Pillow Talk
by Jonathan Priest
Summary: Series of connected one shots. Just good fluff, drama, passion and love all culminating into sweet little snippets of the pairings of the Gaang sharing some tender Pillow Talk. Mostly Aang/Katara, possibly other pairings later.
1. Ch 1: Of Cabbages and Time Bending

Author's Note: Story takes place about 3 years after the end of the series. Just a sweet, little Kataang story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Please don't sue.

Pillow Talk

A contented sigh had escaped the young Avatar's lips, his spirit finding peace simply by the presence of his lovely waterbender who lay contently nestled in his arms. Though his time with her was never quite enough to satisfy either of them, it did provide them both with a greater appreciation for what little time they shared together.

It was rare indeed, to experience a lifetime of love and passion in a few, short hours, and still be left wanting more. The thought brought a smile to Aang's face, as he was certain that no one could ever experience a love like his and Katara's. When a thousand lifetimes of love would be spent over the course of a single life, who could ever hope to compete with that? In fact, he had every confidence that long after they had both passed to the Spirit World, it would not be his accomplishments as Avatar that people would remember, but their passion and love for each other that would be the watermark by which history remembered them both.

Adjusting himself slightly on the plush mattress and allowing Katara to snuggle closer to him, Aang brought his free hand to her face, brushing some loosely falling strands of hair from her eyes as his fingers danced enticingly across her skin. She rewarded him with a smile that said more than words ever could and moved to press her lips to his.

After several, agonizingly sweet moments of pleasure, Katara at last pulled away from his lips and lay her head back on his shoulder, her fingers playfully drawing obscure designs on his chest. "What are you thinking about?" she asked simply, her question coming for no other reason than to hear the sound of his voice.

A moment of contemplative silence passed between the two before Aang finally answered Katara's patient question with a simple, "Cabbages."

"Cabbages?" Katara asked, raising her head to look at Aang's deadpanned expression. Her own expression responded similarly, her eyebrow arched and her lips held tight as though fighting to suppress the giggles that seemed to bubble up from within her.

"Cabbages," Aang responded, nodding his head as though the answer was the most expected reply to Katara's question.

"Okay," the waterbender remarked, her escaping laughter proving she was losing her effort to keep a poignant disposition about the serious nature of leafy garden greens. "I hope you're planning to elaborate on this."

"Well, it's just that, I hate cabbages." Aang answered honestly, his crooked grin sliding across his face as he hugged Katara closer to him.

"Since when?" the young woman asked, her eyebrow arching in speculative inquiry. "You used to always love cabbage rolls."

"Well, I think I came to this conclusion about six hours ago, when the Earth King asked for my assistance mediating a dispute between the agricultural senate and the cabbage merchants who are upset over a proposed 15% increase in sales tax. Oi," Aang sighed heavily, his head shaking in disbelief and frustration. "Honestly, I don't understand why these people can't mediate their own concerns, especially something as mundane as this. I'd like a day off every once in a while too, but its just as if they're occupying my time with frivolous tasks just to keep me busy."

Katara frowned slightly at the frustration building in the man next to her, and knew first hand how much he regretted not having more time to spend with her. Truthfully, she was just as upset over the constant demands placed on Aang as he was, but not because it took away from the time they spent together as much as it simply hurt her to know that the world seemed to be using the Avatar so that they did not have to do their own work.

But this was not her time to lament about her feelings on politics and world leaders unable to keep their own house in order. This was her time to spend with Aang, and she would do all in her power to ease his mind and spirit away from that which troubled him.

"So," Katara said, resting her head against his shoulder once more and returning to her task of drawing strange designs on his chest with her finger, "I take it you won't be in the mood for cabbage casserole tomorrow?"

Laughing lightly at her own little joke, Aang shifted his body again, rolling on his side so that he could fully wrap his arms around Katara. "No, that probably wouldn't be a good idea. In fact, I've come to realize that I take a perverse pleasure in watching cabbages get destroyed."

"Alright, no cabbage casserole," Katara remarked, kissing Aang lightly on the lips as she closed her eyes, comfortable in his arms and to feel the rhythm of his body that was uniquely his own.

"But you know, this whole cabbage fiasco has given me some time to think about another issue," Aang said, smiling playfully once again as Katara opened her eyes and waited patiently. "Time bending."

"You have the weirdest pillow talk," Katara responded as her fingers began rhythmatically dancing once more over Aang's bare skin. "How did you make the leap from cabbages to time bending exactly?"

"Oh, well that's quite easy actually. You see, I figure, if its possible to bend energy itself, fold energy and manipulate it however you want, then it's also possible to bend space and even time…though I'm not exactly sure how long it would take to master something like that."

"And this involves cabbages…how?"

"Well, what I'd do is, go back in time, say, three years, and convince the Earth King to raise the sales tax of cabbages 200% for domestically grown cabbages, 350% for imported. This would retroactively destroy the entire cabbage merchant industry and lo and behold, cancel out the reason for having this stupid meeting tomorrow, leaving my whole day free and clear to spend right here with you."

"Hmm…" Katara responded in thought, and though her lips formed a deeply introspective expression, her eyes danced with unshed laughter that gave away her amusement to Aang's theory. "But I was planning to go shopping tomorrow."

"Oh, well, I guess that idea's over and done with then." Aang said dejectedly as he pulled Katara closer.

After several moments of silence stretched between them, Katara spoke again. "So, three years ago, we would have been at…the Southern Water Tribe, correct?"

"Uh….yeah, I think so."

"So, if you performed your amazing feat of bending, would you search out your past self?"

"Hadn't really thought about it, but yeah, I think I might."

Katara pulled away to fix Aang with a crooked expression that only seemed to make the young man glow. "So wait, you'd go back in time and destroy an economical resource but you hadn't given any thought about seeing your past self again?"

"I can't really think of any reason to," Aang said shrugging, "There isn't any advice I could give him that would make my life any better than it is."

"Really, nothing at all?"

"Well, maybe just a reminder to appreciate a certain waterbender every chance he gets. He can be a little thick and sometimes forget that."

"True, true," Katara said airily, but the smile on her lips told just how much she truly missed this silly side of Aang. "So, would you offer the same advice to that same, certain waterbender?"

"No," Aang responded simply, his lower lip jutting out as he playfully raised his eyebrow. "Because she already knows how lucky she is."

"Oh, your going to get it for that," Katara answered, pouncing on top of Aang and reaching determinedly for the one spot on his body that would render him an immovable mass of giggling laughter. Expecting her assault, Aang defended his primary weakness by shielding his ticklish spot and wrestling Katara away from him. Arms and limbs wrestled with one another, fingers groped and ticked each other's bodies and playful laughter and pleads for mercy became more personal yearnings and enticing touches. Finally, Aang had pinned Katara beneath him, all laughter and playfulness draining from his body as he gazed fully into her beckoning eyes.

"If I had one thing to tell my younger self," Aang said, his voice, slow and heavy with need as he lowered his head to run his nose against her nose and along her cheek, leaving white-hot kisses that trailed his intimate touch, "It would be not to give up hope. That I'd win your heart in the end."

Katara reached forward, wrapping her arms around Aang's neck and pulling his face to hers. "And I were to say anything to my younger self," she said before pressing her lips to Aang's in a slow, languid kiss that seared his lungs, robbed him of his breath and ignited every nerve in his body. Had his mind not been wiped of all thought, he would have marveled at how she could have some a physical effect on the Avatar. "I would tell her, to not wait so long. To not be so scared and just do what her heart told her she wanted. Because Aang," Katara said, pulling the airbender to her lips once more, "You never had to win my heart…you always had it."

-End

Author's note: Well, not sure if this worked out as well as I planned. Originally I wanted them to discuss their eventual children, but I got hooked into the cabbage ranting and thought it was funny. This story isn't meant to be deep, just a good dose of Kataang fluff. Hopefully I got that part right at least.

As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review.


	2. Ch 2: Seperation Anxiety

Pillow Talk: Ch 2

Separation Anxiety

The day had been painfully long and unmerciful, as Aang had at last found the conclusion of his duties as Avatar fulfilled and made his way wearily to his bedchamber. It had been a day of messages and summons, as the Avatar's presence had been requested at the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. For whatever foolish reason, the last remaining rogue agents of the Dai Li had attempted to establish themselves within the city limits, and soon learned their folly in the form of King Bumi, who had no desire to permit their unsolicited activities within his borders. Their second tragic mistake had been attempting to establish themselves while visiting master earthbender, Toph Bei Fong was in the city as well. To say the Dai Li were quickly, and painfully subdued was a ridiculous understatement and a disservice to the skill of arguably the two most powerful earthbenders on the planet.

Thus, letters had been arriving all day, both from Bumi and from Toph's attendants, requesting the Avatar's presence in the city to help determine what would be the best way to deal with the Dai Li. Aang had suspected that his presence had more to do with a social visit by his two, very dear friends than any matters of the state, but it was an official request, and the young airbender did not feel he had the right to refuse. With that in mind, most of his day had been spent preparing for his journey and sending follow up correspondence to confirm his arrival.

So now, after the long and tiring day, he wanted nothing more than to flop boneless, on the plush mattress and let sleep claim him. But as always, he was ever mindful of Katara, whom had gone to bed a few hours before and was already asleep, thus he was careful not to wake his beautiful waterbender. Easing himself on his side of the bed and snuggling up next to Katara's back, he wrapped one arm over her sleeping form and held her close, though he was quite surprised by the feeling of her strong fingers that gripped his wrist and pulled it closer to her, as if feeding on the closeness of his body to hers.

Feeling eased and comforted simply by Katara's company, Aang laid his head on his pillow before asking softly, "Did I wake you?"

There was no response to his inquiry, and Aang had assumed she had fallen back to sleep. Feeling her body shivering beneath him however, and assuming she was chilled, he attempted to pull his arm free of her grip to retrieve the covers and pull them up around her, only to feel her fingers tighten around his wrist again, dissuading his assumption of her present, restful condition and preventing even, the slightest absence of physical contact. Aang responded in kind, pulling his arm, and Katara, closer to himself and lay his head down to sleep, only to feel the complete shattering of his world as the broken sob forced its way from the lips of his lover.

"Katara?" Aang asked, his voice sounding fearful as he reverently spoke her name and sat up in bed. Using firebending, the Avatar lit a candle across the room and leaned over Katara's body to see large, fat tears squeezing beneath her closed lids as she turned her face shamefully into the pillow, as if desiring to hide her grief from the man she loved. "Katara, what's wrong?"

Inhaling sharply and releasing a shaky breath, the lovely waterbender shook her head as though too pained to voice her grief. For whatever reason, she turned further away from Aang, her face digging deeper into the pillow.

Leaning over her shoulder and whispering comforting words into her ear, Aang pleaded with the young woman, desiring her to open up to him and share her problems, but was met with only stark refusal. Wrapping his arms around her from behind and holding her as close to his body as he could, Aang rested his face against her bare shoulder, feeling himself helpless to ease the burden of this most precious woman. Failing in his duties as Avatar, failing to protect the world was insignificant to knowing he could not spare Katara the distress that had taken root within her, and he begged all his past lives to grant him the wisdom to remedy her distress, and his guilt for not seeing her anguish sooner.

Minutes, hours, days…all transcended eternity that was spent between the beats of a breaking heart as the young woman fought passionately to regain mastery of her emotions. Desperately swiping at her eyes and swallowing the great burden that gripped her heart with its relentless strangle, Katara at last took a few calming breaths, "I-I'm sorry."

"Katara, what's wrong?"

"I-It's nothing Aang," the young woman said, and though she had denied her emotions, her voice was thick with grief and feeling. "Just go back to sleep."

"Katara, that was not nothing," Aang said, sitting up fully and pulling Katara into a sitting position, directing her body so that she faced him. Cupping his hand against her cheek, Aang carefully used his thumb to wipe away the unshed tears that still clung to her lashes. "Talk to me Katara, please…"

She shuddered at the sound of her name spoken with such desperate longing, that she knew she could not resist him. She equally knew what she would see when she opened her eyes to gaze into his relentlessly stormy orbs, knowing full well that whatever resolve she had to shoulder this burden on her own would vanish as she lost herself to him. For all the love he possessed for the world, for all his desire to protect the fragile peace that existed since the end of the war, it all paled in comparison to his need, his compulsion to protect and to love her, and many times Katara was left awed by the depths of his love, while other times, she felt unworthy of it. Her present, emotional state left her feeling the greater burden of unworthiness, and she was shamed by that sensation.

As she knew she would, she lost all hope of resisting his persistent inquiry the moment she gazed into his worried and desperate eyes, and she felt further shame for putting further stress on him. "It's just…I don't want you to go." At these words, she threw herself forward and clung tightly to his tunic, as though she would drown should she release him.

This seemed to confuse Aang further as he furrowed his brow in thought. She had never displayed this degree of anguish for his frequent trips, and he suspected perhaps Katara was fearful of the danger in dealing with the Dai Li. But that didn't seem right either, given that both Bumi and Toph were in the city, and either were a match for a whole legion of rogue earthbenders, and the didn't even count for Aang being the Avatar. Still, her present distress was real, and Aang could care less what the source of it was, only that she suffered from it and he wanted to see her smile, not her tears. "If you're worried about the Dai Li, don't be. They're secured and…"

"No, it has nothing to do with that," Katara said, shaking her head in denial against Aang's chest. "I don't want you to go. I-I don't ever want to see you to go."

This left Aang at a complete loss and he was without a clue as to what caused this grief to the woman in his arms. "I don't understand Katara. You've never been this adamant about my Avatar duties before. Why only now?…"

"No Aang," she whispered as her emotions again threatened to take control of her. "I go through this every time you leave, it's just I hold it together long enough until after you've gone. I'm sorry, it's just getting harder to keep in all inside lately…"

"But, why haven't you ever mentioned anything sooner?" Aang asked desperately, pulling her close to him and closing his own eyes in shame. Now it was his turn to feel regret for not noticing the desperate grief of the woman whom he would sacrifice the world for, and knowing that it was his actions and inattentiveness that had caused her torment. "Why didn't you tell me how you felt?"

"Because…" she began, again fighting to regain her composure. "I never wanted to hold you back. I never wanted to burden you with my insecurities. You have responsibilities that are more important than my own needs…"

"Don't ever think that Katara," Aang said, his hands cupping her perfect face as he urgently poured every emotion, every bit of love he held for her through his voice and from his eyes. The love he possessed, his love for her was palpable, and it left Katara breathless. "There is nothing in this world more precious than you, nothing I need more than you. You're my forever girl." Aang said, fixing her with a lopsided grin and being rewarded by the tension-breaking laugh from Katara. He again pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her tightly as though never letting go. She responded in kind, and it never ceased to amaze the airbender how perfect they fit together, as though their bodies and spirits were made to fit exactly as they were.

Aang had heard scholars, even some guru's mention that true love was a force of balance, that love was an act of compromise and understanding, but Aang tended to disagree with that notion. It wasn't balance; it was completion, for Katara made him whole, just as he completed her. Two people, one life…that was what love truly was.

Katara had snuggled deeper into Aang's embrace, and after several minutes, fully relaxed into his arms, her breathing and stress vanishing as she was comforted in the one place in this world that truly belonged to her. "I'm sorry," Katara said again, her words a bare whisper as she closed her eyes in comfort. After a moment, she continued. "I need to tell you something. Do you…do you want to know what my worst day was?"

The question struck Aang as odd but he felt it had something to do with Katara's reason for emotionally collapsing on herself as she did. As he considered the question, a few scattered memories came to mind, the death of Katara's mother, Aang getting shot by lightning, facing Azula, but Katara's words halted any musings. "It's not what you think it is…"

Chuckling as though the initial question had been moot, Aang shook his head. "What, can you read my mind now?"

"Reading you has never been difficult," Katara said lovingly as she pulled away to look at Aang, her playful smile soon disappearing as she returned to the question at hand. "No, my worse day was…I'm sure you remember the day Azula shot you with lightning while we were in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se."

"Yeah, that was one of the days I thought would be your worse."

Shaking her head, Katara continued. "It wasn't. Not my worst day anyway. But you had survived, barely, but you were still alive. And seeing you lying in bed, so frail and fragile, it was terrifying…but I knew you'd be okay. I knew you'd be okay because I was there to take care of you. As arrogant as it sounds to say aloud, I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

"And you were right," Aang said, his voice echoing in love and compassion as she caressed Katara's face. "You brought me back. Not that I could ever stay away from you."

"But you did Aang," Katara replied, another traitorous tear falling from her eye and burning its way down her cheek. Shaking her head and fighting to steady herself, she continued, "After that incident in the catacombs and you recovered, after you felt that you failed Ba Sing Se, you left. You wanted to fix this problem on your own; you wanted to do it by yourself. You deserted us…you deserted me.

"You don't know how scared I was. You were just gone. We had no way to know which direction you left or where you were headed. There was a storm brewing and you were weakened and alone, without us, without…me. Part of me was afraid I'd never see you again, and some part of me has never been able to let that go, that fear that you wanted to do everything alone, even if you knew you couldn't.

"I know you felt like you were just protecting us," Katara whispered, her voice shaky once more, but she paused and willed herself under control. "That this was your way of keeping us safe. But while we were searching, Sokka said that, maybe it was for the best if we didn't find you. Maybe we were all just holding you back. As quickly as we dismissed it, I knew some part of Sokka and even Toph believed there was some part of that, that might be true. And I guess, eventually, I believed it also, at least partly." Katara finished, her eyes raising to lock Aang's and revealing every bit of love and passion for the airbender that he revealed every time he looked into her eyes. "So, every time you leave…that little piece of guilt, that little sense that maybe I'm just a burden. It comes back. I know it's silly, and I know I'm being irrational, but I'm just reminded of that day."

When Katara had at last finished, Aang hung his head in shame as he took several steadying breaths of his own. "I'm so, so, so sorry Katara. I never knew you felt this way. I just, well…" he began, but fell silent as though looking for the right words that would justify his thoughts. "I never wanted to force this life on you. As the Avatar, I'm expected to travel and fly all over the world to attend to my duties. I had only wanted to give you some stability, at least as much as I could provide. That's why I've never taken you with me on my trips. I just, always wanted you to have a home and stability. It's something I've never been able to give you."

Cradling his face in her hands, Katara pressed her lips to his. It was a strong, but gentle kiss. Confident and assured, yet soft and alluring, and as his mouth responded to the attention of her ministrations, he found himself being drawn into the passion and love she held for him, and the desire that seemed slightly darker, and resided just beneath the surface. He had often commented, when she kissed him like this, that if she were the ocean, he'd long since be lost to the depths.

"Aang," Katara spoke, her lips tantalizingly grazing his. Her voice weighed heavily with the obsession that was this man in her arms and the sound of his voice, spoken in such quivering desire, that he was left wanting more. "My stability is not given to me by this house. It's right here, with you and nowhere else. That's all I've ever needed, to be right here, with you, like this forever."

For several long minutes, the two simply sat on their bed, holding one another, finding comfort and completion in each other's arms, until finally, Aang pulled away from Katara and left the room. The waterbender was left surprised by the sudden departure of her lover, and the chill she felt from the absence of his body only added to her ache of not having him near her. But as soon as he left, he returned, his travel satchel purposely slung over his shoulder. As she watched him expectantly, he opened the satchel and upended the bag, dumping its contents on the floor in a heap before returning to his place on the bed.

"Aang, what?…" Katara asked, before the Avatar's lips found hers again and returned all the depths of his love for her in that single kiss. If Katara's lips had the effect of drowning, then Aang's kisses left Katara breathless and windswept. Their love was natural, it was dangerous, but most of all, it was beautiful.

-The End

A/N: Not sure how this turned out. It was a lot longer than I intended and I think it may have drug on longer than I wanted. Anyway, here is another chapter for Pillow Talk. I'm thinking this may just be a series of One Shots that all share the same continuity, eventually adding new pairings such as Sokka/Suki or Zuko/Mai. We'll see.

As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review. Thanks


	3. Ch 3: Upon Waking

Pillow Talk:

Chapter 3: Upon Waking

It was subtle, the way in which his gentle breaths filled his body as his chest and shoulders rose and fell like the waves. It was a soothing motion, and the beautiful waterbender lying beside him never tired of the even, calming pattern of the Avatar's sleeping form. Truthfully, every little action he performed fascinated her, and she found no small amount of enjoyment in knowing that, even the little things, such as the way he crinkled his nose when threatened with a sneeze, or the untold joy he exhibited when making fruit pies, brought a steady exhilaration to her senses, making her acutely aware of every detail, no matter how minute, of the young man in her arms.

Of course, the charmingly captivating details of Aang's little idiosyncrasies were insignificant when compared to all the ways he exhausted himself in expressing his love for her. The way his voice would so often brake in painful obsession when softly professing her name while in the thralls of passion. The lingering touches and kisses that burned, white hot across her fevered skin, eliciting every nerve, every fiber, every particle of her body to desperate immersion into the unyielding touch of her lover's delicate ministrations. And his eyes, gray storms of desire that burned with a sadness that Katara knew all too well. It was a sadness that knew that even should they spend an eternity in one another's arms, it would never be enough.

And as she lay there, fingers gently gliding over the cobalt tattoo the stretched the length of his lithe but strong arm, she drank in every detail of Aang's gentle features, soon finding herself intoxicated by just his mere presence. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips gently against his, his taste drawing her further into her own desire to touch and caress Aang, to commit every inch of his body to memory, as she had a thousand times before. Gently leaning further into his kiss, she startled only slightly as Aang began responding to her caress, his lips moving in equal fervor, drinking in her closeness as though he could never get enough. Moments passed as the kiss deepened, the two lovers moaning in desire at the early morning passion that consumed them. Fingers glided over bare skin, groping and caressing in a fit of desperate, unmet need that clawed feverously at what little restraint the lovers possessed in light of their early morning duties that did not include their present fit of passion for one another.

The yearning need to be held, to be loved, to be caressed and cared for however, did not distract from the duties that would need to be addressed today, and the last few, lingering kisses were a promise to finish in the evening what was started in the morning. As Aang slowly opened his eyes, a soft smile spreading across his lips as he greeted his lovely waterbender.

"Good morning," he smiled further, his gentle words echoing the love that consumed him to every cell of his body.

"Good morning," Katara returned, her own eyes burning fervently as she graced the Avatar with a sleepy smile.

Moments passed between them, comforted to be lost in each other's presence and too alive with the love that enveloped them both to move from their position in each other's arms. After several heartbeats passed, Aang finally broke the silence. "What were you thinking about?" he asked softly, his fingers moving to gently brush a few wayward strands of tussled hair from her forehead. "I could feel you watching me as I slept."

The color rising to her cheeks caused a self-mocking smirk as she lowered her eyes shyly in a way that she knew Aang adored. "How could you possibly know that?"

Her only response was a smile that sweetly adorned his features as he closed the space between them once again and proffered a lingering kiss that swept the air from both their lungs. After several, long, agonizingly sweet minutes, he pulled away, her lips instinctively followed his, aching from loss of contact with his mouth. He smiled at her expected response before staring once more into her eyes before posing his question once again. "So, what were you thinking about earlier?"

Shrugging mildly as though the answer was not as important as the question, Katara simply smiled briefly before responding with a simple, "You."

A brief laugh escaped the airbender before he tilted his head slightly. "That's rather vague Katara. I'm hoping you'll elaborate on that…seeing as how I'm the subject." He finished, flashing a charming smile that effected Katara much the same as her shyly probing eyes affected him.

"Sometimes I just have to wonder," Katara stated slowly, her words filtering from her lips in a gentle lull that seemed to calm the already peaceful airbender. "I just have to wonder if I deserve you."

Pursing his lips in a thoughtful expression while arching an eyebrow, Aang waited patiently for Katara to continue, while she seemed hesitant to explain further.

"How did you come by that idea exactly?" Aang asked, his features softening at the fear that perhaps he had implanted this doubt into his beautiful waterbender's mind, and his desire to desperately squash that doubt was foremost in his mind.

"It sounds silly I know but it's just that…well, you're the Avatar."

"And?"

Shrugging slightly, Katara continued her lamenting thoughts. "It's just, you're a master bender, you promote peace and compassion everywhere you go, you ended the war, and every king and noble on the planet would drop their entire schedule for a meeting with you.

"But with all that power, all that influence, you could have had your choice of any woman on the planet…and you chose me. I can't deny, it really makes me feel somewhat humbled, and a little unworthy. Sometimes, not always mind you, but just sometimes, I feel like I have live up to that title of being the Avatar's wife, and I'm not sure how to live up to that."

"Why would you ever think you'd have to 'live up to that'?" Aang asked, his hand moving forward to grace the back of his fingers against the silk-smooth skin of her cheek as he burrowed his eyes deeply into her clear blue irises. "If anything, I often wonder if I'm worthy of you."

"That's funny Aang," Katara asked incredulously, her laugh devoid of humor as she moved her own fingers to capture his and twine their fingers together. "You doubt if you deserve me?"

"You have no idea what you do to me," the Avatar responded, his voice husky with need and want as he moved forward, the tip of his nose grazing across her skin lightly and leading a trail for butterfly kisses that soon followed. His attentive kisses soon found their way along her jawbone before moving lower to her throat, and when he spoke again; the crook of her neck muffled his words. "I'm an airbender Katara, and you rob me of my breath." He said, kissing her throat again, his words gravely as he fought them around the constriction of his own voice. "I'm a waterbender, and just thinking of you makes my body sweat and my mouth go dry." A kiss lay tenderly against her jaw. "I'm an earthbender, and you shake the world beneath my feet and make me tremble with just a look." His lips finding the lobe of her ear and suckling the tender skin. "And I'm a firebender, and you send shivers through my body. I have absolute control over the elements, but you make me the weakest I've ever been, and stronger than I ever thought I could be."

His husky words now breaking slightly as he pulled away to kiss her fully on the lips, his mouth lingering as she parted her lips to deepen the kiss. Only when his lungs were starved for breath did he pull away to gaze fully in her eyes. Katara however, ducked her eyes away from his again, a blush marking its way up the curve of her cheeks. "When you talk like that," Katara whispered, her own words coming breathlessly from her enticing lips, "You really make me wonder if I'm worthy to live up to your praise."

Aang smiled as he moved his hand to gently grace her face, his thumb resting against the bridge of her nose while the remaining fingers splayed across the soft texture of her skin; his thumb and forefinger framing that perfectly blue eye that watched him expectantly. "You forget one thing Katara," his words came slow and heavy as he continued. "You said that you didn't know if you were worthy, that I could have chosen anyone in this world as my lover and you were genuinely surprised that I chose you. But there was never a choice Katara. From the moment you woke me from the iceberg and I opened my eyes to be lost in your perfect, endlessly blue eyes, I was consumed by you.

"There was never a choice Katara, because from the very beginning of our journey, from the time our adventure began…all I could ever see, was you."

-End

A/N: Just a story of good fluff. Hope you enjoy. As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review. Thank you.


	4. Ch 4: Sokka and Suki

Pillow Talk:

Chapter 3: Sokka and Suki

Darkness had descended upon the young man with all the subtly of a freefalling Sky Bison. In truth, everything in his life of late felt much the same way, as he stood in the slumbering campground, his eyes fixed on the fire that dwindled soullessly until it had become little more than glowing cinders in an ashen pit.

His mind, however, was fixed elsewhere, unconcerned with the faltering fire that dwindled slowly from this world despite its best efforts to live…to prove it's own worth. The subtle parallels to his own circumstances were hardly lost on his affluent mind.

So absorbed was he in his own contemplations that he failed to acknowledge the lightly treading approach of the young woman that came to stand beside him. Her attention turned from his unwavering line of sight to his face and she felt a deep disturbance in the young man's unspoken thoughts as she sought to unburden whatever troubles plagued him. Lacing her fingers with his, more in a show of support for whatever worries he wrestled with than to make her presence known, her own mind struggled to find the means to the peace she wanted to the young man.

"Hey," she whispered at last, her words echoing loudly in the deafening silence. "You let the fire go out."

"Left on it's own, it couldn't survive by itself," Sokka shrugged in dismissal as he turned to face the beautiful warrior who so thoroughly captivated him every time his eyes touched hers. "Sorry if I woke you."

Shrugging lightly, Suki snuggled closer to him as she sighed delicately at the warmth she felt from his body. "So…what were you thinking about?"

"Nothing really," Sokka lied, his hand moving from her entrapping fingers so that he could wrap her fully in an embrace that served to remind him how perfectly they fit together.

Suki knew better than to press the issue. If Sokka wanted to talk about whatever troubled him, which she was quite certain he did, then he would do so when he was ready, and not before. Offering herself as a source of comfort would often loosen his lips until he was ready to open up. Sure enough, she did not have too long to wait.

"What are we doing here Suki?" Sokka asked after several moments of extended silence, a heavy sigh filtering from his lips as though he had unburdened himself with just that simple question.

"Do you mean, what are we doing now, or what we were doing half an hour ago?" Suki asked, her eyes twinkling with playful mischief as she pulled back to look at the still stoic expression dawning the warrior's face, indicating she had missed the intention of his underlining question while he ignored her suggestive remark in an attempt to lighten his mood.

"I mean, what are we doing here…with them?" He asked again, waving his hand over the campsite to encompass the makeshift family of benders that rested peacefully.

Arching an eyebrow, Suki pulled away from Sokka and took his hands in hers, her eyes seeking out his beneath the warrior's reluctance to find comfort in her beautiful face, as though he wished to lament his discontentment without distraction. "You're being rather vague," she said simply, moving her hands once more to cradle his face and direct his attention to her. "Could you elaborate a bit more on what you're asking?"

Sighing again, Sokka raised his eyes to hers and perched his lips in thought as to how best to express his lingering doubts. "Well, it's just, look around us, look at who we're traveling with. My sister is probably the most amazing waterbender I've ever seen,. Toph, is quite possibly the strongest earthbender _ever_."

The scoffing snort coming from the diminutive earthbender's sleeping roll convinced the warrior to lower his voice lest he wake his friends. "Zuko is the crown prince and has been trained by the best masters in the Fire Nation and knows techniques no one else knows. And of course, Aang is the Avatar, doesn't get much tougher than that.

"Then there's us," Sokka said, his head slumping against his chest as he stared at his feet. "No offense to your fighting ability Suki, in a straight fight, you could clean my candle, but against a master bender, and there are four of them here, the two of us just feel…out of place."

Furrowing her brow in an effort to discern the real issue, Suki tilted her head and again forced Sokka to look at her. "So, are you concerned that we're not pulling our own weight?"

"I'm concerned that we're holding them back," Sokka said as he flopped down on the ground, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees. "I mean, Kyoshi Island would have burned down had Aang not put the fire out. The serpent in Serpent's Pass would have swallowed us all if not for Aang and Katara. We never would have gotten out of Boiling Rock without Zuko, and I can't even count the number of times Toph has saved our lives. Hell, I can't even count the number of times any of them have saved all our lives."

"And again," Suki continued as she joined Sokka on the ground, "You're worried we're not contributing?"

"No, not really that, but…" trailing off his thoughts as he tried to put his concerns to words, he shrugged dismissively, "What if they worry so much about protecting us that they find themselves distracted in the middle of a fight. What if we're more of a liability than a help? Neither of us bend, and in a fight against benders, that kind of makes us easy targets."

After several moments of silence fell between the two, Suki leaned against Sokka's shoulder, her eyelids drifting heavily as she considered his doubts and how best to alleviate them. "I think what you're really asking is, how can you protect them, when you feel inferior to them?"

The silence from the young man spoke true to Suki's words, that her assessment of his discontent was accurate and struck true to the proverbial nail. That silence was finally broken as he exhaled a shuddering breath. "How can I keep my promise to my dad to protect Katara, when she doesn't need me to protect her any more? I just feel like…like they've all outgrown me."

Suki was at a loss as to what words could be spoken to ease his troubled mind, and at last decided on a different course. Cradling his face in her hands once more and turning his face towards hers, she moved her face as well, not to capture his, but to look skyward, her eyes fixing on the crescent moon that hung luminously in the evening canvas. "Will you tell me about her?"

Thrown off by the direct shifting of subject, Sokka furrowed his brow in curiosity before following Suki's unwavering line of sight, his own attention settling on the moon, and confusion and clarity declaring war within his mind. "What?"

"The moon spirit, Yue," Suki remarked; the name spoken with deep reverence towards the departed young woman who became the moon spirit. It seemed as though the question had taxed Suki's own reserves of courage however, and Sokka felt her body quiver nervously, as though afraid of what answers might be revealed. When the silence stretched between them, Suki at last pulled her eyes away from the moon and stared into the confused and curious orbs of Sokka's overwhelmingly blue eyes before she lowered her eyes once more, as though the ground was the most interesting thing in existence. "I asked Katara a while ago, why you kept staring at the moon. I-I don't mean to imply or intrude on something that you'd rather not talk about its just…well, I'm not really sure what I mean…"

"You want to know about Yue?" Sokka asked, his voice a bare whisper as though thinking of the woman drained him of all strength.

"Y-yes. I really want to know Sokka, and I want you to be completely honest. What was she like?"

"Why?"

The simple question left Suki speechless for a moment before finding an answer that suited her, "Because, she was important to you and I-I just want to know, that's all."

The blatant lie was not lost on Sokka, but he would let it pass for the time being. Rather, his mind was torn between speaking the truth, and withholding information that would undoubtedly hurt the woman he held in his arms. In the end, he knew it would be a disservice to both women if he withheld anything.

"We met in the Northern Water Tribe," he began simply, his words possessing only the slightest hint of tremor as he recalled the memory that was both sweet and painful. "She was the daughter of the king, and she, well…she was breathtaking." He paused a moment to swallow down the lump that swelled in the center of his throat before continuing onward. "She was engaged though, and even though she was marrying to fulfill her purpose as princess rather than out of love, it was apparent she was spoken for.

"Still, we spent a lot of time together, and we became close. I think she was more torn about the whole thing than I was. See, she had a duty to her people, but it's not really what she wanted. For me, I knew what I had wanted and well; I selfishly tried to convince her that her own happiness was more important than her duty. In the end, it really didn't matter."

Sokka hung his head, and a few, fat teardrops had traitorously burned their way down his cheek as he drew in several shuddering breaths to calm himself before continuing. "The Fire Nation had come to attack the Northern Water Tribe. In the process, the Moon Spirit had been killed. Years ago, the spirit had given Yue her life, and during the darkest moment in Water Tribe history, Yue elected to give it back. She had sacrificed herself for everyone on the planet, and all I could think about was how much I missed her. It didn't seem right."

"She sounded like an amazing woman," Suki said after several moments of silence that lengthened into a merciless veil of stillness. "D-did you love her?"

A simple question, the importance of which was not lost by anyone within the camp as the silence stretched once more before Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "I never got the chance to find out. Did I care about her? Yes. Did I think it could have been love? Eventually, but well…" Sokka said, again his shoulders rose and fell like the tide as he turned his eyes from the moon to the woman at his side, the subject of his unrequited emotions left abandoned. "So, why did you want to know? I mean really?"

"Because," Suki choked, the words strangling in her throat as they fought beyond the emotional mosaic that churned within her and found subsistence beyond her lips. "I wanted you to know, that I understand what it's like to live in the shadow of someone greater than you are."

For a moment, Sokka's earlier musings and Suki's present declaration collided in a wedge of absolute clarity that, if anything, made the young warrior feel infinity worse. Realizing what his lingering emotions for the departed Yue had done to this beautiful, strong and amazing woman left Sokka's earlier fears about his own worth within the group dynamic bitterly unimportant.

Grabbing Suki by the shoulders and pulling her into a crushing embrace, Sokka shook his head in regret, mouthing repeated apologies to the Kyoshi warrior. Suki however, clung tightly to Sokka's tunic, her own insecurities leaking out from beneath her closed lids before desperately fighting back the painful sting of her own emotional need. She had prided herself to approach any situation with resolute clarity; to not let emotions cloud her mission, her judgment or her duties. An ironic, broken laugh had escaped her lips at the thought of her current quelling emotions, and, in hindsight, how vastly changed she was from her days on Kyoshi Island. Did this man know what effect he had on her?

Regardless, Suki pulled back from Sokka's comforting arms and struggled to rein in her own fleeing emotions. The purpose of her acclimation was not to gush pitifully into his arms, to tell him how much she hated competing with a ghost for his absolute love, but to explain that she fully understood what it meant to feel inferior to those around you, to try to be important, only to be left wondering if you make a difference at all. For her part, she had not yet fulfilled that part of her mission.

"Sokka," Suki stated, kneeling before the warrior and sitting back on her legs as she studied his face. She understood that her own confession had further hurt him, but it was necessary for him to bridge the gap between what was perceived as his place, and what he ultimately knew and simply overlooked. "You're looking at this all wrong."

Arching an eyebrow in confusion, Sokka remained silent as he waited for her to continue. "You're so focused on their powers, how strong they are in a fight, that you're forgetting that it's not about how strong they are, but who they are."

Titling his head to the side, Sokka arched an eyebrow at the young woman. "You lost me."

"Look at it this way," Suki pointed out as she pointed one by one to the supposedly sleeping form of their friends, "We all work so well together because we each bring something to the group to help compliment us. Katara is the compassion, she cares about each of us and when we hurt, she hurts too, so she tries extra hard to help fix us when things are at their worst. Zuko is the will. You've said it plenty of times, Zuko doesn't know how to give up, it's just not in him.

"Toph, she's the courage. When things get their most difficult, she bears down and faces it head on without ever flinching. She's quite unflappable that way. And Aang, well, he's the soul of our group. It'd be kind of ridiculous to say we'd all be together without him. To the world, he may be hope, but to us, he's why we're here, why we're willing to risk our lives to ensure a better future. Because he didn't bring us along because he needed us, but because he wanted us to be with him, and we wanted to come."

After a few minutes that stretched between them, Sokka finally broached the question that would at last settle his mind. "So then, what are we?"

"We're the face," Suki smiled as though the statement was simple and reasonable, despite Sokka's confusion that it generated. "Look, everything we do is to protect the world, to save it right? But it's hard to put a face to the people who will benefit from everything that we do. You and me, we're important to them _because_ we're not special. We're just normal people, like everyone else in the world we're trying to help. And because we're right here with them, they can see us in all the faceless people who will benefit from what we do."

"So, we're important to them because we're common?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Suki finished, pulling herself close to Sokka again. "We're important because we give them focus, we are the reason we fight to end this war. And because we're not benders fighting right along beside them, you and I have to represent all the people in the world who are just normal, but want to be the best they can be. The Kyoshi Warriors, the Water Tribe Warriors, even the Yu Yan Archers, are all just normal people with extraordinary skill. They represent the best potential of humanity, and we represent them."

The thought left Sokka rather stunned for a moment at the implication of her statement before a smile finally began to tug at the corner of his lips. It was indeed a heavy burden to represent the people of the world while fighting to reshape it into something better that everyone would benefit from. "I was being stupid, wasn't I?"

"No, not at all," Suki finished as she pulled back long enough to press her lips against Sokka's in a slow, breathless embrace that reminded them specifically why they chose to fight. "I've had much the same doubt myself," she said, at last pulling away from the kiss before continuing. "It's just I have a better objective focus than you have. At the Southern Water Tribe, you fought to protect your tribe, but on Kyoshi Island, I trained to fight so that others didn't have to. So it was easier to extend my desire to protect others from fighting to beyond just my island, but to the whole world. It's the perfect analogy for us Sokka; you protect, I defend.

"But there's more to it than just that," Suki continued as she rose to her feet, offering her hand to Sokka, not to help him up so much as an invitation to rise. "We're a family. It's important to realize that, with our little band here, it's not just words it's fact. And like every family, we're made better by the people around us. Just think about how we've all changed, each of us, just by being together. It really doesn't matter if we're the strongest fighters or not, we're here because we're needed, just as much as they are."

A solemn look painted Sokka's face as he tilted his head sideways, as though weighing Suki's words. "That was an awful lot to say to finally tell me we were needed."

Shrugging her shoulders as though unconcerned by his statement, Suki answered back, "Well, sometimes you are pretty thick. It might take some extra motivation to get you to see the point."

"Motivation huh?" Sokka remarked. In much better spirits than before, a lecherous grin danced across his features. "What kind of motivation are you talking about?"

-End

A/N: Well, this story sort of came from an idea that I didn't really think Sokka's feelings of inferiority were properly handled when he trained with Master Piando. It was just, he trained, that's it, no more lamenting over not being able to stop natural disasters or such. I think he should have explored a little more as to why he was important to the group, and actually what his contribution did as a whole. But that's just my thoughts.

Anyway, hoped everyone liked this. As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review. Thank you.


	5. Ch 5:What do you see when you look at me

A/N: This chapter takes place after Ember Island Players. Enjoy

**Pillow Talk**

**Chapter 5: What Do You See When You Look at Me?**

She had made her way along the craggy cliff side, her steps working cautiously in the pocked and worn rock that led her cautiously towards the beach. She had no way of knowing where she was being led, only that instinct and a general need to travel in this direction was pulling her along by whatever unseen force compelled her. It was unsettling how poignant her desperation was to reach her destination, and though she had no evidence that she would find him, within the depths of her heart, she had no doubt his discovery was forthcoming.

It had been subtle really, feeling his spirit reaching out, calling to her. It was equally simple that she would answer. Beginning with her nightly ritual of checking on his sleeping status, a tradition that had begun since finally awakening from his coma…from his near death at being lanced by Azula's lightning, she found his bed unoccupied, and thus began her immediate search for her missing friend. It was delicate, the gentle rhythm of her heart that had led her along her current course, knowing where she would find him. And when at last she emerged over the ridge, she found her query, seated on the sandy beach in the lotus position, yet his slumped shoulders and bowed head spoke desperately his lack of meditative peace of mind despite his efforts.

She cringed harshly at the silent torment he suffered, accepting the acknowledgment of her own part in his distress. She hadn't meant to hurt him. His confession had come unexpectedly on the balcony of the theater, and before she had managed to consider her own feeling on the matter, his lips pressing gently against hers helped only to escalate her cautious uncertainty and send her running in fear. Even now…especially now upon seeing him, she felt immensely guilty for her reaction, but equally felt hurt that he would not give her the consideration to sort out her own feelings before forcing his desire onto her. How had it all come to this?

Knowing she had no recourse but to speak to him, try to sort the begrudging tug-o-war of her emotions, she moved cautiously towards his position, in spite of having no way of knowing what she would say. She wasn't ready for this; her thoughts, emotions, her need of duty as opposed to just her need and want conflicted within her as a storm of confusion, bitter and unyielding. But as she came around to stare at his face, her only emotion she experienced was her desperate need to comfort him.

Eyes closed tight against the tightening grip of emotions that warred within him, she wasn't sure whether the moisture that painted his face was from the misting tide that crashed against the surf, tears that he could no longer contain, or a combination of both. "Aang?" she asked lightly, startling the young Avatar and giving away his preoccupation to his tormented thoughts, as any other time, he would well know she had approached him.

"Oh, uh, hi Katara," the young teen replied, swiping angrily at his eyes while turning his head shamefully away from the waterbender. After several moments of silence, Aang in his effort to compose himself and Katara not wishing to pressure him, he finally said, "What are you doing out here?"

Though his words were cautious, there was a bite of impatience, as though he was embarrassed that she witnessed him in such a state of distress. For her part, Katara took no offense and simply folded herself down to kneel beside him, her eyes softening at the strained expression staining his often-peaceful face. "I came looking for you," she said simply, resting her hand on his shoulder, only to have him move away from her touch. Though she took no offense at his initial tone, the obvious distance he wished to maintain between them stung, causing her to take a moment for herself to fight back the biting tears that burned the corners of her eyes. "I went to see if you were sleeping alright and when you weren't in your bed, I came looking for you. I guess I knew where to find you," she paused momentarily as her mind recalled all the times the Avatar went missing and all the times she located him. "I guess I've always known how to find you."

The last words came out as a mere whisper, and had she not been sitting beside him, Aang would have missed the musing tone of her words. But regardless, he was more interested in her intentions for seeking him out rather than her ability to find him when he didn't want to be found. "You were looking for me?" He asked incredulously, his eyes searching hers for some answer, some hope to cling to before he quickly averted his attention. She had that effect on him, and if he stared too long into her unflinchingly caring eyes, he'd find himself lost. "Why?"

Shrugging her shoulders slightly as she leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out in front of her, she turned her own attention towards the rolling tide before continuing. "I'm always looking for you Aang. Ever since Azula almost…well, ever since she shot you with lightning and you finally woke up, I come to check on you in the middle of the night…just to make sure you're okay."

Aang stared at Katara with unflinching confusion. He seemed to border asking certain questions he wasn't quite willing to hear the answers to. But uncertainty and hope seemed intent on dancing across his features until at last he turned away to stare once more at the ocean. The confusion, the uncertainty and fear had never been a factor in their relationship before, no matter how it was defined, and Katara felt a renewed guilt at being the one responsible for implanting that trepidation.

"Aang," Katara said, her words coming softly, and though she had no way of knowing what she would say, she only knew she had to say something. "I really think that, maybe we should talk about what happened tonight…on the balcony," she said as an afterthought.

"That's not necessary Katara. Besides, I think you said all you needed to say," the young man spoke, his words coming hauntingly controlled as though willing himself into an ease he did not at all feel. However, moving to rise from his seat in determined retreat, his wrist was held tight by the beautiful young woman beside him, preventing his would be escape.

"No Aang, I-I didn't say all I wanted to and I think I left a lot of things out you needed to hear." Unsurprisingly, she felt the tug of his arm as he tried to break free, and felt marginally hopeful that it was, at best, a half-hearted attempt at freedom. Tugging lightly on his arm, a clear indication that she wanted him to return to his place beside her in the sand, she felt comforted even further as he grudgingly complied.

"Look," she said, her own frustration and fear spilling out as she combed her agitated fingers through her hair. "Aang, th-there is something happening between us. I acknowledge that. I acknowledge that our relationship is changing. But to what that is…I-I really have no way of know. Not yet."

When Aang moved to open his mouth, Katara held her hand up for silence. "Aang, before you say anything, before you make things more confusing for me by telling me what you think we have…"

"I know what we have Katara," the Avatar replied in agitated defense. "I've known it for a long time…"

"But I don't Aang, and I need to understand this for myself," Katara responded, her own eyes hopeful pools of pleading understanding that Aang would accept and respect her need to sort out these feeling on her own. "Can you give that to me Aang? Can you give me the time I need to sort through this on my own?"

The words struck the young airbender with a sense of irony that was lost on the beautiful young woman beside him. If he had the power, he would serve the world to her on a platter, end the war, bring lasting peace and stop Ozai all in one fell swoop. And he would do it neither for his duty nor the future of this world…he would do it all for her. And yet, time…that was the one gift he was afraid to surrender, terrified to give to her. Because in his heart always existed the little voice of doubt, ever reminding him, taunting him that waiting would not give him what he wanted, but tear away every dream he held. It always did. He needed only to remember the air temples and his people to be reminded of that.

Regardless, his willingness to bend to her request, acquiesce to her need to sort her feelings out for herself, without interruption and influence from him, was of primal importance to her. If anything, Katara deserved that much from him. Yet, even as he nodded his head in silent agreement, he could not help the dawning horror that he was putting all his hopes, his happiness in the hands of a woman who did not know how she felt. The grief and fear was a physical thing, and it drove a spike of insecurity through the middle of his suffering heart.

Katara however, recognized what the effort had cost him, and reached forward to lay a supporting hand on his shoulder, thankful that he did not shy away from her touch this time. "Aang, I'm sorry to make you wait, I just need to…sort everything out."

"Don't worry Katara," Aang said, his shoulders slumping slightly, not in grief or defeat but simple acceptance. "I waited a hundred years for you. I'll wait until your ready, or at least until you know."

The statement had startled the waterbender, her eyes shifting at the subtle clarification that this entire time, his time in the iceberg was simply a means to bring him to her. That it was fate and destiny that had brought them together. Rather than feeling pressured by whatever otherworldly forces manipulated her life, she seemed to understand Aang's reasoning for his devout feelings towards her, and in a way, she was humbled and subsequently charmed by it. Even if she could not put the feelings that were changing within her to words, she knew instinctively what they were. She simply hadn't reached that clarification yet.

Noting the stress still permeating from the young man, she furrowed her brow in question, hoping he was not still suffering from her hesitation. "So then, are we okay?"

Turning a half-glance in her direction, a sad smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he nodded his head. "Yeah Katara…we're okay." But still, something was distinctly troubling the airbender, and when she whispered his name, he turned fully towards her, revealing the storm of emotions swimming in his gray eyes that threatened to drown him.

"A-are you okay, Aang?"

Sighing in defeat, he ducked his head and closed his eyes; his shoulders slumping even further under the strain that threatened to crush him. For several moments, he took deep, meditative breaths in an effort to calm his nerves, and yet still, he felt himself losing his own battle. "No, I'm not alright Katara, I'm not alright at all." His words echoed tonelessly from his mouth as he refused to turn his attention to the waterbender. Before she could launch herself into a self-defensive diatribe regarding her need for certainty of her own feelings, Aang shook his head bitterly. "It's not you Katara. Honestly, my mistakes on the balcony tonight weren't even in my mind until you came to find me."

"What you said wasn't a mistake Aang, and I never want you to think it was," she said forcefully, her hand moving from his shoulder to cup his cheek and turn his face towards her. "Don't ever think what you said was wrong."

"Not what I said, what I did Katara," he said again, but made no move to remove himself from her fingers that felt warm and light against his shivering skin. "You were right, I should give you whatever time and space you need to sort this out for yourself…"

"No," Katara said again, forcing his eyes to connect to hers, the conviction spoken from her lips matched only by the determination in her eyes. "I don't need space Aang, just time to sort it out. That's all I need." Accepting her words and nodding his head in acceptance, Katara felt relieved that she had at least resolved that inner conflict. Yet still, the tangible grief and uncertainty masking his often gentile features was heart rending, and if for not other reason than his own peace of mind, she would wait as long as needed until he unburdened himself with whatever distressed his mind so completely.

Feeling it best to provide as much comfort and support as she could, and knowing embracing him to lessen his hurt was not the best approach, Katara placed her hands on either shoulder and pulled Aang towards her. Fully expecting to be taken in her arms, Aang let himself be guided towards her, only to be surprised when she lowered him completely to the ground, his head resting in her lap. Sparing a look of confused uncertainty to the waterbender, Katara shook her head and turned his head back to stare out at the ocean. Her hand began rhythmically gliding the backs of her fingers along the subtle curve of his cheek and jaw line, stroking his face in gentle contentment as he closed his eyes in unburdened comfort.

For several moments they remained this way, Aang's head resting in Katara's lap while she soothed the angel-soft skin of his face with her fingers, her eyes never leaving his face as she concentrated on her fixated ministrations. His breathing seemed calmed by her presence and attention, and for a while she wondered if he hadn't at last found pace in sleep until he spoke softly, "That play was really awful, wasn't it?"

Though elicited in a casual tone, Katara suspected this was at the source of his worries. She had suspected this regardless, but for different reasons, and for a moment she was going to again expound on her declaration that the actress on stage did not speak for her, until remembering his earlier comments that he had not given it a thought until she came to accompany him. Swallowing her building tirade and recognizing it as unnecessary, Katara answered, "Yeah, it was a really horrible play."

Again, the silence stretched between the two as Katara felt his body stiffen, several uncertain breaths escaping his lips before continuing. "Did you see them? The people in the audience?" He paused, his words strangling on the building grief that threatened the shatter what little resolve he had built. "They cheered at the end of the play…they were even happy to see me…to see me die…" The final words escaped as little more than a bare whisper, his voice breaking at the declaration, and if not for his lips moving against the fabric of her skirt, she might have not known he'd spoken at all.

But Katara did not need to hear the words to understand what was being said. Here it was, the source of all of Aang's anguish and pain, and the thought that he suffered such unrelenting fear constricted her heart and tightened her throat until she could barely find the will to breath. It seemed unfair, that here was a young man who had done nothing but give of himself to make others lives happy and meaningful, only to be met with the bitter reality that somewhere, someone would always despise his efforts. It was one thing for soldiers and politicians of the Fire Nation, but these were citizens; people whose lives would be better without Ozai as Firelord. And yet they were clamoring to seem the one symbol of peace snuffed out by their own tyrannical despot. There seemed to be no justice in the world.

As Katara continued to look at Aang, her soothing fingers never ceasing their rhythm, her eyes clouded, and a few fat drops fell from her cheek before she was able to pull her emotions under control. The minutes again stretched between them, the tide rolling further onto the beach before receding, an appropriate metaphor for the unsettling emotions within the young airbender. "Katara? What am I?"

Furrowing her brow in confusion, she tilted her head slightly while moving her hand to cup his chin and turn his face towards her. "I'm not sure what you mean Aang?"

At the simple question, a deep, quivering breath escaped the young man's lips as he deflated slightly in release of the building strain he felt. "It's nothing, its just…well, everyone in that play, they treated me like the Avatar. The crowd, they cheered for the death of the Avatar, but they didn't seem to notice that I'm just a thirteen-year-old kid. Do they hate me so much that they'd really cheer for a child's death? I know that I should be disgusted over them wishing me dead, but at the same time, I'm confused that they can't separate me from this image they have of the Avatar. And I'm not sure how to make them see that distinction."

As Aang rolled to his back so that he could fully gaze into Katara's eyes, he waited patiently for her to help resolve this distressful anxiety that he wasn't quite sure how to put into words. For her part, Katara looked pointedly into his eyes and did not shy away from the intensity she found there within. Her fingers again resting against his cheek in comfort, she shook her head slightly. "The Avatar is only what you can do Aang, it's not who you are. It's you, personally you, who define how others see you. You have to remember that in your heart, you possess the distinction between right and wrong. It's come with everything you've lost, and everything you've gained," she said, the last part coming quietly as though unveiling more than her words intended. When she looked again at her best friend, his eyes swam with not acceptance, but only more questions.

"How do you see me Katara?"

The question caused a sudden uneasiness in her stomach as she shied away from the passionate desperation for his validation. She wasn't entirely sure what direction his question had intended to lead her, but she knew well enough, that though the open-ended inquiry could well lead to trapping he once more into uncertain waters, she trusted Aang enough to know, he would honor his promise to allow her to sort out her feelings for herself.

Thinking quietly before continuing, Katara smiled slightly, "You're an unquestionable authority in this world Aang, you're the most powerful being on the planet, and your word is law in every corner of the earth. That's how the world views you, but that's not who you are.

"You're an unshakably moral and compassionate young man who puts the needs of others ahead of your own, whether its what others feel is right or not. When Zuko trapped you in the North Pole, you refused to let him freeze. That's just one of a hundred examples I can think of off the top of my head. But more than that Aang, your unquestionably loyal, despite the underlining fear that you'll be left alone. I know that worries you," Katara said, shaking her head to stave off his coming rebuttal, "And despite by best efforts, I haven't resolved that issue with you. That's my failing, but I promise that you won't have to be afraid of being alone anymore.

"You have a heart as big as the entire world, and there's no limit to how willing you are to forgive those who don't deserve it. You fear, laugh, cry, endure, and…love…more than anyone I've ever met," Her declaration hitching slightly at the word that seemed to bond them both, despite their uncertainty. "And when it all comes down to it, it's not your power or your authority, not your wisdom or your wrath that will bridge the nations and build a lasting peace. It's your compassion that will lead others to follow you. That's what defines you Aang."

As she fell silent, the pair shared a meaningful look through shimmering eyes that brimmed with unshed tears. The emotion reflecting between Aang and Katara in that simple, unremitting connection was boundless and unyielding, and immortalized the bond they celebrated with each other. Moving his hand to caress Katara's face, his thumb wiping away the unshed tears, Aang asked in confirmation, "Do you really see me that way?"

"Yes, I do Aang…"

"Saying things like that, it makes me wonder if I can live up to your expectations."

Smiling slightly as she moved her hand to lay over his that rested against her cheek, she pressed the warmth of his palm against her, her eyes closing in silent pleasure at the feel of his hand against her. She was only slightly aware, and even less alarmed that her confusion, her uncertainty about her feelings for Aang seemed to drift away and not matter so much at all. In truth, she wondered if they ever truly mattered, but that was neither here nor there. The young man laying against her legs, staring with intent innocence and hope was all that really mattered. "Aang," she said slowly, her eyes reflecting all the unsaid things she was too afraid to voice, "You could never, not live up to my expectations. You do it every day."

-End


	6. Ch 6: In Your Eyes

**Pillow Talk **

**Chapter 6: In Your Eyes**

She loved him. Such a simple thought, an underscoring phrase that could never quite encompass all the emotions that fed her growing addiction to the young airbender in her arms. Everything about him, every little charming, unassuming quirk and habit, every smile that toyed at the corner of his lips and brought a slight blush to her cheeks. Every perfect motion of his lithe yet deceptively strong body whenever he practiced his bending arts brought a flutter to her heart.

And when they were alone, when the intimacy of their solitude brought more lingering touches and deeper kisses, thrilling explorations of their bodies, Katara felt herself fall further into the depths of passion and all-consuming obsession for Aang. He wasn't only her lover, her best friend and partner, he was the sun that brought light to her life, the world that comforted and kept her safe, and the moon that empowered her, made her feel strong, brave and beautiful. He was all these things, but it was more than that.

She supposed if there was one attribute of Aang, one feature on the young Avatar that left her utterly entranced and desperately longing for more…it was his eyes. Those gray, stormy orbs that shined with silent mischief and deep, unyielding love for the world. And when he turned that love towards her, made her feel as though she was the only person of importance on the entire planet, it brought a stillness to her senses, as though she were drowning in the desire he held for her. She felt as though she would never breathe again, comforted in the knowledge that Aang, her darling airbender, would remedy that with but a kiss, breathing life back into her lungs and showing her the joys of living life above the clouds.

But his eyes were so much more than just the focal of his soul. To Katara, it was symbolic for Aang's steel-gray eyes to hold the same color as the sky above the Southern Water Tribe. Gray and cold and stormy, the blistering storms that punished her people, the sky that loomed threateningly above her head as a child. She never realized how much she loved that color, for while others believed it was a depressing and unfeeling color, to her it was the color of home. And one only needed to look into Aang's limitless gray eyes, those special orbs that sparkled with a love for life, to know that gray was not a drab and emotionless color, but quite the opposite. For Katara, it was the color of home.

Leaning forward, Katara brushed her lips against Aang's, feeling the warmth of his mouth and the sweet, airy scent of his breath. A moment later, Aang opened his eyes, his irises locking Katara's beautiful blue orbs. Again, it was as though she fell in love with him every time he opened his eyes. Because she knew, he first opened his eyes for her, years ago when she freed him from the iceberg, and every day since, his eyes opened just for her.

"Good morning," Aang said, his voice gentle with early morning fatigue.

"Good morning," Katara returned, moving to kiss his lips again. When she pulled away, she felt herself lost once more, falling into Aang's endless depths.

Moments passed, the two lovers staring longingly at one another, drinking hungrily of each others presence as they held one another firmly in their arms. "What are you thinking about?" Aang asked wistfully, his slow smile forming in response to the teasing blushed that formed against Katara's cheeks.

Leaning forward, her forehead meeting his, she smiled in her own alluring way. "I was just thinking about my home," she replied, her lips tickling his as she spoke before bringing the fullness of her mouth against his. "I was thinking about you."

A/N: I don't do drabbles often, but I liked the idea of this story so I wrote it anyway. As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review. Thank you.


	7. Ch 7: A Little Bit of Comfort

A/N: Story takes place after Season 1, Episode 3: The Southern Air Temple.

**Pillow Talk**

**Chapter 7: A Little Bit of Comfort**

Night was a time for peace, for dreams and the sweet release of all the daily concerns that weigh heavily upon the conscious mind. It was a time for stillness and beauty, of comfort and grace, when stars perforated the heavens and the moon, in gentle luminous, descended its soothing benevolence upon the world. The entire world seemed to find peace in their dreams, with the exception of the young boy who found naught but terrors and nightmares whenever he closed his eyes.

The temple was destroyed, his people gone. His home, his traditions, his history…all of it vanished like the fleeting dreams fading in the light of the morning sun. And yet it was not a dream. It was the terrible, unspeakable reality that had become his life as he revisited the image of his beloved Gyatso's decaying bones among a plethora of Fire Nation soldiers whenever the young Avatar closed his eyes. And though he was not present to witness the last moments of his master's life, the events played themselves out before him in eerily terrifying detail. The fear, the terror, the consuming grief that Gyatso must have endured in those last few minutes of life brought an acute clarity to Aang's mind that strangled the air from his lungs.

At first, his tears fell silently, rolling from his eyes and along the gentle curve of his cheek as quietly as the whispering wind that moved and shaped the clouds. It was an anguish he did not wish to share with his traveling companions, because in truth… they wouldn't understand, they couldn't possibly understand. He was the last of his kind, the last airbender, the last of his people to uphold the old traditions, and the depths of the reality of all he witnessed brought a tremor to his heart as the first of his heavy sobs ripped its way from the depths of his soul and voiced itself beyond the swell of his lips.

He had become only partially aware of the piercing agony that had escaped his lips, driving in intensity through the center of his heart and shaking his small frame in the fit of building grief that, once released, could not be contained within him any longer. A pitiful wave of misery, loneliness and failure had rooted itself within him, building in intensity until it fell upon what little resolve he possessed until the succumbing of hot, fat tears and screaming dissolution fell from Aang's eyes and lips.

So desperate and pronounced was the pain pouring from him, that he failed to recognize the stirring form of the young waterbender who woke under the sounds of his grieving lamentation. As she turned to her side and faced the quivering form of the young Avatar, her heart nearly broke at the distress pouring from his curled form. "Aang?" Katara asked softly, her head tilting as she saw the stiffening of his body and the deep inhaling sniffles that came from her friend. "Aang, are you alright?" The question was unnecessary. She knew the answer without even asking, but when he did not speak and only managed to nod his head, the reaction prompted her to crawl from her sleeping roll and make her way to him.

As she peered over his curled form, her heart all but shattered at the unspeakable tension and crippling grief that etched itself into every line of Aang's peaceful face. His features were wet with tears and his eyes squeezed tight against the horrors he could not bring himself to forget. At the enticing touch of her warm hand against his chilled shoulder, Aang redoubled his efforts to control his emotions, failing desperately as another loud sob burst from his lips.

"Aang, talk to me, please," Katara begged, moving around his body to face him as she placed both hands on either of his shoulders and struggling to pull him upright into an awkward embrace. "You…you're not alone Aang. I'm here, and Sokka's here and we're not going to leave you. So please…talk to me…" the young woman cried, her words breaking in desperation as she struggled to keep the tears welling in her own eyes from her voice. "Please…"

The last, pleading request from the lovely waterbender broke through Aang's emotional wall, causing the airbender to lunge forward against Katara's shoulder and cling to her as though letting go would result in him tumbling back into the abyss of misery he did not wish to return. For several long minutes that stretched indeterminately between the faltering beats of Aang's withering heart, the tears fell in waves of grief that shattered the boyish joy of the Avatar. He had lost all sense of himself and the world served only to disillusion his hopeless spirit with the never-ending memories that danced across his mind's eye.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" Katara prompted when Aang's heavy tears had settled into subdued hiccups and infrequent sniffles.

Shaking his head in reluctance, Aang spoke in a voice that was as weak and broken as he was. "You wouldn't understand Katara."

Though hurt that her friend could easily discount that his pain and suffering could not be shared by another…shared by her, she fought back the bitter sting his words elicited within her. He had no way to know about what happened to her mother, to know what that strangling grief had caused her and cost her. How could he know if she never told him? But then, equally, she became aware that this was not about her pain, but Aang's, and it was all she could do to hold the youth in her arms and shelter him from the desperate shaking that had overtaken his body.

Pressing her forehead against the crook of his neck as she squeezed her arms tight around him, she spoke in softly comforting tones that burrowed beyond Aang's agony. "I can't begin to imagine how you must be feeling right now Aang. But…the monks aren't gone you know. They still exist within you and, I can't pretend to ever replace your lost family, but I hope you'll at least let me try. You're not alone Aang, I promise you that."

Again Aang shook his head, a clear sign that Katara had not at all grasped the source of his distress. "I know you and Sokka will Katara, but that's not…what this is about. You don't understand, you couldn't…" His words hitched as a new wave of tears flooded from him and he collapsed against the young woman again, holding her tightly in his desperation.

Confused and a bit offended that he could so easily dismiss her empathy, Katara fought back her hurt once again and barreled forward. "Then help me understand Aang. If this isn't about what the Fire Nation did, then what is it about?"

Pulling away from Katara and staring into her brilliantly blue eyes, he took her compassion as a source of strength before swallowing down the lump that had formed in his throat. "It's about what we learn as monks Katara," he paused again to redouble his efforts to maintain control before once again stumbling forward. "As an Air Nomad, our primary course of study is that, all life is not only precious, it's sacred. All life, from the tiniest mosquito-gnat, must be revered. We take our vows very seriously, that life must not only be preserved, but protected.

"It takes many years of deep meditation to become enlightened. Protecting life is only one small part of that, but the true enlightened monk relies on spiritual enlightenment in the absence of worldly needs and luxuries. They separate themselves from worldly desires and honor all life. Gyatso," Aang paused, choking on the name of his beloved master. "Gyatso was an enlightened monk. He respected all life, loved life and held no connection to worldly possessions."

"He sounded like a great man," Katara replied soothingly, pulling Aang against her once more to provide as much comfort as she could while gently rubbing his back. She wasn't sure what else to say to him however and could think to do nothing more than comfort him, support him and be his rock if he needed it. The tightening of his grip echoed his need of just how much he needed that stabilizing support.

"The thing is," Aang continued brokenly, burying his fact into Katara's shoulder in a hope to hold back the tide of emotion once more. "When I found Gyatso, his body…it was surrounded by dead Fire Nation soldiers. I can't help but think, what happened? What could have happened for Gyatso to forsake his fundamental beliefs and kill those soldiers? How desperate did he have to be? Wh-what did he witness to give up the single ideal that defined his existence. I can't imagine what would have driven him to do that, and I can't help but imagine what took place in the Air Temple for the monks to forsake all their beliefs and kill. What could have happened?"

And thus, Katara at last discovered the source of Aang's anxiety. It was not that he was questioning what could have taken place to destroy his culture, but how strong were his beliefs in the sanctity of life and his efforts to follow his fellow monks, become enlightened as they were, if they were forced to kill to defend themselves? Were the teachings of Gyatso and the others merely words, or was it that the ideas of true enlightenment only served your purposes so long as you wished to uphold them?

The murder of his people had not only left Aang with the knowledge that he was all that remained of his heritage; but it had stripped his faith the very core of its fundamental principle, shaking his commitment to follow in the path of his people and his master. And despite his best effort, he felt betrayed by the death committed by the monks, and he felt sickened of himself for feeling that.

For all the things Katara had experienced, she had never known what it meant to lose hope in the founding beliefs of what essentially made her who she was. This was exactly the torment Aang was suffering, and she could do nothing but hold and whisper words that were that were empty, while a fresh wave of tears echoed from the depths of his despair.

She held him tightly to her, her own eyes clouding in anguish over the suffering that drowned Aang. Her only comfort in all of this was, at least he did not have to suffer alone. That was her only salvation.

-End

A/N: Well, I think the concept was better than the story turned out but who knows. Anyway, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks.


	8. Ch 8: Longshot and Smellerbee

Pillow Talk:

Chapter 8: Longshot and Smellerbee

It had been so long since they had been camping that it just didn't seem natural to be out in the wilderness again. The pair of freedom fighters had fallen into the trap of expecting and even appreciating the creature comforts of having a warm bed and roof over their heads. After all, that was the reason why they moved to Ba Sing Se, so they could have a fresh start, a new chance at an old dream to just leave the past behind and move on with their lives. They may not have lived like royalty, but they at least felt normal, and for a while it felt…nice.

But that all changed when Jet just couldn't move past his obsession, seemed convinced that the refugee, Lee, and his uncle were firebenders. Despite his commitment to having a new life, a fresh start; his hatred overpowered his reason and it cost him his life. That's what led the last two freedom fighters to their present location, huddled in the dark with only a fire and a vague sense of each other for company. It seemed so strange to think how they were all together not long ago, laughing and causing real mischief for the Fire Nation while staying three steps ahead of them. But in the end, it wasn't the Fire Nation that finally brought down the relentlessly fearless Jet, not some villainous bending master of an enemy nation, but an earthbender, a man who, under normal circumstances would have been seen as an ally. It seemed universally unjust that Jet died without ever fulfilling his need to avenge his family, never took his final revenge against the Fire Nation…because the Earth Kingdom murdered him. There was no justice in the world.

It was that line of thought that caused the sniffling of unshed tears to alert her companion of her emotional distress. In silently fluent movements, the archer had crossed the campsite, crouching beside the suffering young woman and placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Longshot," Smellerbee said simply as she stared into the expressive eyes of her partner, nodding her head in answer to his unspoken question. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…I don't know why he did it. Why couldn't Jet leave it alone? Why'd he have to get himself killed obsessing over the Fire Nation."

Again, looking to the eyes of her friend, a saddened frown creased her features. "Yeah, I understand that, but didn't he know he was our family too? Didn't he stop to think that we needed him to be with us?"

Silence stretched between the two of them as Smellerbee shook her head in response to Longshot's poignant stare. "No, it's not the same." She said, her voice breaking with tension as she verbalized her denial. "Jet let his obsession destroy him. He was so filled with hate it had nowhere to go but to eat him from the inside out. It's different for us."

"How?" Longshot said, no longer willing to speak his mind through his ever-expressive eyes, and yet his soft voice seemed to echo especially loud through the quiet campsite. "How is it different for us?" With a wave of his hand Longshot signaled the weapons lined and prepared for the assault they planned to execute.

"Because we're not planning on destroying the Fire Nation, that's how," Smellerbee shot back in simple rebuttal, her anger rising in frustration as her partner questioned the very morals that raged within her since suggesting what would amount to little more than a suicide mission into Ba Sing Se's prison. It wasn't about revenge. It was about justice. Jet deserved that much. He deserved more than knowing that the man who took his life didn't simply rot away in a prison, but suffered the same fate.

It had taken some time to learn of Long Feng's whereabouts. Once the city had fallen to the Fire Nation, his own Dai Li agents locked Long Feng away in prison. It seemed almost fitting that the man, cunning and ambitious though he may be, was stripped of all power and forced to serve the remainder of his life in prison, betrayed as he was by his own operatives. Most would think his fate fitting, swallowed as he was by his own greed and powerless to stop it from happening. But Smellerbee was not among those supporters of his imprisonment. Long Feng still breathed, and that was unacceptable. "That man took Jet from us Longshot! He doesn't deserve to live!

"Yeah, yeah, I know already okay?" Smellerbee replied again to Longshot's unspoken declaration, but she shook her head in refusal. "Jet lost control, I remember okay, I was there! Attacking the Fire Nation village, obsessing over that kid with the scar and his uncle. Jet got obsessed with anyone and everyone associated with the Fire Nation and didn't care who he hurt. We're just going to kill one man, the man who killed Jet."

"Jet only started his revenge seeking one man too," Longshot replied evenly, his voice never revealing his emotional turmoil. "And look how that turned out."

"Are you saying we shouldn't even try? Are you saying we shouldn't avenge Jet?"

"No," Longshot said again, his head shaking slowly for effect. "I'm asking you, where does it end Smellerbee? Would you really stop at Long Feng? What about the Dai Li, they kidnapped and brainwashed Jet. What about the Earth King, he was foolish enough not to even know what was happening in his own city. Or how about the citizens who supported the Dai Li."

"Stop trying to confuse me!"

"I'm not, I'm only seeking clarification," Longshot continued once more. "Because whether these people were aware of it or not, they were all conspirators in what led up to Jet's death. Do you want them to pay for this crime as well?"

"YES, alright, are you happy now! I want them all to pay for what happened to Jet! I want them to know what it felt like to stand there and watch him die gasping for his last breath, choking to death on his own blood and being able to do a thing about it! I want them ALL to know what that feels like, because maybe then they'd know how horrible this war really is and they wouldn't hide behind their wall and let this happen. Okay? You happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Longshot stared fixedly at the young woman, the tears now streaking a course down her cheek as she no long fought to suppress the pain and grief that came with losing her friend and the dissolving of the freedom fighters, leaving the two of them without a family. Longshot said nothing for the time being, and regretted that his next words would strike as true as his arrow, regretted to the core of his being what he was about to do. "Jet would be proud."

Though the words could be taken as an affirmation that the young woman was living up to Jet's example, the realization that she had transferred her grief and anger onto the Earth Kingdom much the same way Jet did with the Fire Nation was not lost on Smellerbee. With the great shaking of her small frame, the young woman fell to her knees, suppressed grief and hurt pouring from her eyes in a great torrent of agony that hollowed out her heart, dumping all her emotions into the uncaring night air until she was left drained and empty.

Longshot, uncertain whether she would accept his comfort, merely knelt beside her and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, hoping his comfort would ease her troubled spirit. It didn't.

-End

A/N: Well, this was written in response to almostinsane's request for a Longshot/Smellerbee story, so FYI, I do take recommendations and appreciate all suggestions/story themes, uh…except for Zutara. Honestly, I'm sorry but that relationship really makes no sense, it just doesn't work.

Anyway, I left this story totally ambiguous as to the ending of what happened. Like the series, we're never told Longshot and Smellerbee's fate so we don't know. I also apologize for making Longshot talk so much, but there's only so many ways to explain his wordless replies through his eyes.

As always, if your kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review with comments, recommendations or both. Danke


	9. Ch 9: Our Story in the Stars

Pillow Talk

Chapter 9: Our Story in the Stars

The brisk night air was a soothing reprieve from the stifling heat of the Fire Nation summer, and a much-appreciated indulgence shared by the pair of young lovers who lay against the soft grass nestled in one another's arms. Katara laid comfortably still, her head resting against the crook of Aang's shoulder, curled partially against his body as her fingers toyed with the soft fabric of his robes. In the two years since the end of the war, they were hardly seen apart, and to her credit, the waterbending master had become as much a celebrity as the Avatar, much to the contrite humor of their dear friend Toph, who had become considerably famous herself.

But for everything they had been through, it was Aang and Katara who were inseparable, and deservingly so. Theirs was not quite the enamored storybook romance, but rather a love that built like a slow burning fire that needed proper care. The spark was always there, but given too much effort and attention and the flames were smothered. However, once that fire had started, there was no stopping it and it burned with an intensity that would be felt for generations not yet born.

And so it was their nightly ritual to hold each other in one another's arms and stare with undaunted admiration at the stars that shimmered in the evening canvas as though the display was meant solely for them. It was a guilty pleasure to think of the stars as a metaphor for their love, a display plainly visible to the world, and something witnessed with awe and envy.

Slowly, Aang moved his face to nuzzle his lips against Katara's thick locks of hair, his ministrations earning a gracious sigh of pleasure. After a few moments, the young Avatar pulled back, fixing the beautiful young woman with a poignant stare, the slightest of smiles tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Question," he said simply, and though Katara did not turn to face him but rather tilted her head slightly closer, indicating she was listening, he continued. "Do you remember when we were trapped in the desert?"

"How could I forget?" the waterbender deadpanned as she offered a crooked smile for Aang's efforts. "You had a complete meltdown, Toph was bitter that she was feeling so useless and Sokka was out of his mind with cactus juice…not one of our best moments." Recounting the memories however had brought a slight smile to Katara's beautiful features. Though it had been terrifying to battle through the unknown when they were so out of their element, they had survived it, and they had all become better friends because of it. "What about this moment brought that memory on?"

"Oh, nothing really," Aang hemmed unconvincingly as he kept his eyes fixed on Katara, who now turned to face him. "It's just that when we were trying to work our way out that sand pit, you mentioned some constellations illustrated in Sokka's map. I was curious about them that's all."

"What? Didn't you learn about any of the constellations?" Katara asked, thoroughly confused by the admission.

"Well, the monks never really told us anything about constellations. They used to just tell us that stars were just a way to tell stories."

"That's kind of what constellations are Aang," Katara answered, rather uncertain as to the distinction between the storytelling practices of the Air Nomads and the Southern Water Tribe. "It's a way to map our history with the stars."

"Oh, well, I kind of already knew that," Aang said rather foolishly as he offered a crooked smile to Katara. "I guess what I was wondering about was, what are some of the constellations you use to tell your stories?"

"You want to know about the Southern Water Tribe's traditions on storytelling? You've never been interested before." Katara asked. Regardless, the young man nodded his head in enthusiasm.

"I'd love to hear about some of the stories from your tribe." Aang answered in explanation as though it should be plainly obvious.

Taking a moment to scrutinize the airbender, Katara offered a half smile before turning her attention back to the heavens and scanning for a familiar cluster of stars. "Oh, there's one," she answered, pointing to the sky and tracing the descent of five stars is a slow-arching crescent. "That's Algee the Hunter, the first Water Tribe hunter to ever kill a Walrus-Whale."

Tilting his head sideways to make sense of the single line of stars, Aang wished his imagination was better attuned to pick out the image. When he failed to recognize it for what it was, he replied simply, "I don't see it."

"Well, see, that curved line of stars is his bow. And that star, parallel to the third star down is the crest of the Water Tribe. There are more stars to it than that but I'm not quite sure which ones are part of the constellation and which ones are in the way." Katara replied with a half-shrug as though she couldn't quite remember the tales of her childhood.

"You have a constellation of a hunter?"

"Well, we are a hunting culture Aang, it's kind of to be expected."

Pursing his lips in thought, Aang nodded his head in understanding. "I suppose, but I was just hoping for, I don't know, something that didn't include killing another living creature."

Mentally kicking herself for forgetting Aang's gentle nature and pacifistic principles, Katara scratched her chin in thought as she looked at the sky once more. "Oh, there's one, right there," she said after a few moments of scanning the sky, pointing to another cluster of stars that made a circular pattern. "That's Chirum, the Snow Mouse. Supposedly, it lives somewhere in the snowfields not far from the Southern Water Tribe. They say that if you see one, you'll be granted good luck."

"Huh," the young Avatar said thoughtfully as he studied the cluster of stars. Perhaps he was getting better at interpreting constellations after only two tries, but he felt confident he could make out the image. Regardless, the intentions of the star grouping warranted his input. "Well, I don't think I need to find a Chirum to be lucky," he answered, pressing his lips to Katara's cheek in a soft kiss that explained fully the meaning behind his vague comment.

After several more moments of relative silence, with Aang trying to pick out more groupings that could be constellations of the Southern Water Tribe and Katara unable to locate any more, she thought to ask her own question regarding the stories of Aang's people. "So, do you see any Air Nomad constellations?"

Almost puzzled by the question, Aang simply shook his head in response. "No, we didn't invent constellations to tell our stories. For us, it was the stars themselves."

Brow furrowing in confusion, she turned again to face him, her eyes asking the questions that did not need to be spoken.

"Well," Aang continued, without pause, "We used single stars for telling stories rather that a group of them. For instance, that star right there," he said, directing his finger to a rather sadly shimmering star that seemed set apart from the others. "That's the star that tells the story of when I was told I was the Avatar. See how it's kind of separated and alone…that's how I felt."

Moving instinctively closer to the young man, Katara wrapped her arm protectively over Aang's chest to hold him closer. "Was it really like that?"

She listened as he inhaled a deep, cleansing breath before letting it out slowly. "Yeah, it was. I was expected to do so many things, before I was ready when all I wanted was to be a kid. But I didn't get the chance."

Falling silent as his mind was left to wander on the memories, Katara pushed herself on her elbows and hovered over him. "I hope you don't still feel that way."

Gracing her with a soft smile he shared only with her, Aang shook his head. "No, I don't. See," he said pointing to another star, inviting Katara to shift her position to look at the heavens once more. Rather than return to her place in the crook of his shoulder, Katara instead rested her head against his chest, her fingers again finding purpose in the soft fabric of his robe. "That great, white star there, that's the star that reminds me of the day you freed me from the iceberg. I woke up in your arms, staring into the most beautiful face I've ever seen, before and after that moment. I never could have hoped that we'd be together, I just knew that I would love you the rest of my life."

"We both did Aang," she commented with a loving smile toying at the corner of her lips. "I may not have known we'd be together that moment, but I knew my life had changed for the better. You gave me hope, you are my hope." She said, correcting herself as an afterthought.

Aang seemed to smile in understanding as he turned his attention back to the sky and pointed at a pair of stars shimmering side by side in close proximity of each other. "And those two stars are us, those are us when we were trapped in the Cave of Two Lovers."

The waterbender offered a wry smile before shaking her head in mock indignation. "So, of all the times we've been together, you pick those two stars to remind you of the Cave of Two Lovers? That wasn't even remotely romantic."

"It was our first kiss…"

"Maybe, but, I don't know, why not the balcony of Iroh's Tea Shop? I'd have thought that was a much more memorable event."

"Oh, it's that too."

"Okay, you lost me," Katara said, her smile turning playful. "How can it be both the Cave of Two Lovers _and_ the balcony?"

"It's all a matter of perspective," Aang answered, as though it was self-explanatory. "See, when I'm standing on the left and you're on the right, that's the Cave of Two Lovers. However, if you're on the left and I'm on the right, that's the balcony."

Mouth drawn tight in an effort to fight back the bubbling laughter that fought to escape, Katara could only shake her head. "Okay, now your just making stuff up."

Shrugging again as though it should be obvious, Aang returned his lovely waterbender's smile. "Well it is our story. We write this as we go."

Deeply touched by the simple yet poignant meaning of Aang's words, Katara reached up to cup his face against the palm of her hand, her fingers, achingly soft and alluring. "I love you," she said, her words carrying as much meaning as his. "I love you so much Aang, I want you to know that."

Nodding only briefly in understanding before Aang again turned his eyes to the sky, he searched out the one star he wanted Katara to see tonight, and when he found it, he pointed at it wordlessly, his voice choosing that moment to fail him. Frowning only slightly in response to Aang's wordless reply, she followed the direction of his finger, her eyes settling upon a slightly blue star that twinkled brightly against the darkness of the night.

Knowing that by Aang's reaction it was a star indicating immense importance, Katara considered all the possible memories that could be attached to such a significantly unique luminary. When she could think of nothing but a few possible memories of single importance, she posed the question to her lover. "So what does that star imply?"

A deep breath followed, and as if by answer, Aang uncurled the remaining fingers of his hand, allowing the blue ribbon to drop from his enclosed fist. For a moment, the flowing cloth startled Katara as her eyes moved to the decoration fluttering in the wind, held suspended between Aang's forefinger and thumb. At the exact center of the ribbon rested a perfectly round gem, its mirror surfaced marred with an intrinsically beautiful design of wavy lines representing the merging of water and air in the symbols of each nation converging into a single sign of union.

For a moment, Katara was too stunned by the sudden appearance of the necklace to know what it was. But her disquieted confusion gave way to dawning realization, and the recognition of what she was seeing crashed against her like the full force of her bending element. Overwhelmed by the emotions tumbling within her, Katara brought her hand to her lips in an effort to maintain the surging sentiments from overtaking her. Her eyes had clouded in unshed tears and her heart leapt fitfully to her throat, forcing her breath from her lungs and the failure of her words.

It was Aang who finally broke the silence, and when he did his voice was raw and overwhelmed by the very emotions strangling the air from Katara's body. "That star," he began simply, "That star is a reminder of the day I asked you to marry me."

The words seemed to awaken the young woman from her trance as she moved her fingers to take hold of the ribbon, pulling it free from Aang's grip as she squeezed the betrothal necklace against her palm as though afraid it wasn't really there. When she uncurled her fingers from around the stone, her eyes brimmed with fresh tears as she stared at what was the most beautiful treasure in the world. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, willing herself to maintain control and only partially aware of Aang waiting for whatever response was forthcoming.

Bringing the necklace to her lips and kissing the gemstone with a love she held only for Aang, Katara pulled herself to a sitting position and turned to look at the hopeful Avatar who reclined against the grass. Bringing her free hand to cup the gentle curve of his cheek, Katara shook her head in happy contentment. "That star Aang…it will be a reminder to us of the day I said yes."

-End

A/N: This I thought was a sweet way for Aang to propose to Katara. Hope you all like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	10. Ch 10: Intimate Lessons

**Pillow Talk, Ch 10**

**Intimate Lessons**

Sokka sat against his perch on the shore of the small lake, his continence an unconscionable scrutiny as he watched the pair practicing their waterbending exercises with an ever-building mistrust. For the better part of an hour, it had gone much the same way. Katara would instruct Aang on a new technique, advising in great detail on the proper stance and motion required to perfect the newest method of bending water for the Avatar's mastery of the element, only to see that Aang foolishly misinterpret her instructions and make a general mess of whatever new maneuver he was being shown.

To Sokka it seemed a waste of time. Aang had all but mastered waterbending already and still had earth and fire to fully perfect, and a _very_ short timetable with which to achieve this. Unless these new maneuvers were immeasurably potent and would help Aang defeat the Fire Lord, then Sokka didn't see the point in rehashing styles already taught.

'Playing in puddles', as affectionately referred to by the surly Toph, seemed an adequate description of what these two had been doing for the better part of the morning. It wasn't that Katara was working on sharpening Aang's skills at waterbending; Sokka could understand the merit of training, so long as it didn't cut into his lessons with his other masters. But seeing as how Aang seemed to be flubbing generally every technique shown to him, it seemed a waste of effort all around and drew Sokka's frustrated inspection.

What was most disconcerting for Sokka was that Katara continuously felt the need to move to the young man's side and demonstrate the proper direction by physically adjusting his arms or legs to the proper position. This caused an often-unsolicited blush to paint Aang's cheeks, cause a shy smile of contentment from Katara and cause a general seething from her older brother regarding the whole display. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn Aang was flirting with her, intentionally messing up his stance to just be near her, and if not for his general frustration in failing to fulfill the simplest instructions and impress Katara through his diligent efforts, that's exactly what Sokka would have believed. Though whatever frustration Aang may have demonstrated quickly vanished when the beautiful young woman again moved to adjust his form.

"I can't figure out why I'm not getting this," Sokka heard the young Avatar groan in frustration, another blush stealing across his cheeks as Katara worked to bend his knees a little further.

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out _eventually_," Katara said in a tone that was not at all as innocent as her words implied, and if he had not been so concentrated on glaring at the pair in the knee deep water, Sokka would have missed the double-meaning all together. Even hearing it himself, he didn't quite believe what was revealed in his sister's tenor, and chose to err on the side of ignorance. Some things a brother should never know or hear.

But just as he turned to stand in an effort to leave whatever little game Aang and Katara were playing, the shuffling of footsteps along the craggy beach brought Sokka's attention to the new visitors making their way towards him.

"Are they still at it?" Toph exclaimed in exasperated words that bit harshly of her own discontentment at being put off for her own scheduled training session with the Avatar. "I was supposed to start his lessons two hours ago!"

As the earthbending master and exiled prince sat beside the young man from the Southern Water Tribe, they fell into a dutiful silence, surveying the training session with a look of complete disinterest. It was much the same for several minutes as the three friends studied the practice. Aang would work with the new lesson, grasping the fundamental basics of the form or style but not quite mastering it, causing Katara to again walk to his side, her fingers gliding over an arm or a leg, perhaps over his shoulder to arch him in a different angle as she corrected his stance, always while reassuring him that _he'll get it eventually_, and causing Sokka to desperately fight the urge to facepalm whenever it was said.

This went on for several minutes with Toph disgustedly blowing her bangs out of her face and Sokka desperately ignoring the tiny, nibbling over-protective urges to separate his sister and best friend. Zuko seemed fully disinterested however until something caught his attention, causing the former prince to sit up straighter.

"I don't believe it," he said in stunned incredulity, his eyes watching another episode of Katara's physical coaching as he shook head in response to whatever had caught his interest.

Sokka however seemed less than certain he knew what had drawn the exasperated reply from the firebender, or rather feigned ignorance for the sanctity of his own illusions that the pair training were fully innocent in the touches they exchanged. "What's the big deal? Katara's teaching a new technique and Aang's messing it up. Not like we haven't seen that before."

"You wouldn't understand because you're not a bender Sokka…"

"Ha ha," Toph taunted, much to Sokka's disgruntlement.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing that up, like the umpteenth time."

"What I'm saying Sokka is," Zuko continued cautiously, trying to get his point across while placating Sokka's wounded ego, yet at the same time struggling with how much he should reveal at what he's witnessed. "Aang isn't messing up his lesson. He's doing everything exactly how Katara's telling him to do it."

"What do you mean he's not messing up? Everything Katara's been showing him has been wrong and for the last hour I've been watching her correct his stance and arms and…" Sokka's words petered off into the ether of his own horror as the epiphany struck his acute mind with the full fury of a lightning strike. "You're saying…oh man…" His words were muffled by the facepalm he could no longer resist. It was one thing to suspect his sister was an active participant in the overly-physical nature of the training lessons, but to learn she was the instigator was more than he was either willing to accept or concede.

As the realization became commonly known, Toph launched herself into an explosive fit of laughter, clutching at her sides at the expense of Sokka's awkwardness. "So you're telling me you didn't know?" The Blind Bandit screamed in delight as she fought to catch her breath. "All this time and you had no clue? Why do you think he messes up so much when Katara's teaching him and not with us? It's not because he can't get it right, it's because she's telling him how to do it wrong so she can do all her touchy-feely corrections on him. Oh if you could hear how fast their hearts beat when she does that…"

"Seriously Toph, I got it, okay! I didn't need you to sketch me a diagram of whatever it is they're…you know what, never mind. I 'm going to go before you burn any other images I don't want into my brain!" Sokka said with impatience as he pushed himself to his feet and made his way towards the beach house that was their temporary home while at Ember Island, Toph following closely behind and reiterating information the warrior would much rather not know.

Zuko remained seated for a moment, drawn into a three way net of confusion between Katara and Aang's actions, Sokka's apparent denial of the flirtatious nature of their training and Toph taking a perverse joy in knowing all along what was going on. Rather than sit beside the beach and watch the affectionately lingering touches the waterbender was using in her training of the Avatar, the former prince again shook his head and followed his two friends up the hill, putting as much distance between himself and the pair of teens standing in the pooling lake of water.

The drama playing itself out on the beach only a few feet away from the pair had not at all distracted teacher and student's attention from the task at hand as they continued with their bending ritual, Katara explaining the purpose, form and maneuver of the new waterbending method while Aang grew increasingly frustrated at his inability to grasp the fundamentals. The Avatar's disappointment only lasted however until Katara moved behind him and, as was her ritual, corrected Aang's stance.

"I still don't understand why I'm having such trouble with this," Aang had sighed in disappointment while desperately willing his heart to keep a steady rhythm as Katara pressed her body against his and moved his arms closer to his side.

"Like I said Aang," the beautiful water nymph said in a unmistakably suggestive whisper that sent a shiver down the young man's spine, "_you'll figure it out eventually_…" As she said this, Katara wrapped her arms around him from behind, pulling him closer to her while pinning his arms to his side. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled enticingly at the blush that stained his features, from the tip of his arrow clear to the base of his neck. Aang was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe, and fought even against the dizzying feeling that overtook his body.

Stealing a shy glance at the young woman's face, he swallowed hard, trying to sort out all the evocative training exercises today. While certain he understood what Katara was implying this entire time, Aang was torn between the desperate hope that his heart wasn't over-reacting to Katara's actions, and the damning fear that it was. Yet one look at the expression painting the beautiful features of his sifu and he understood in complete clarity everything she had been doing to him today, and why.

Turning sideways to gaze at her expressive eyes, a playfully loving smile stretched across his face as his hopes trumped his fears and he relaxed back into Katara's tight embrace. "Yeah, you're right Katara…I think I finally understand."

Laughing with mischievous joy at the tentative words coming from the Avatar's hopeful lips, Katara pressed a light kiss to his cheek, causing the burning blush to fully engulf Aang's face. Moving to nestle her chin back in its perch on Aang's shoulder, Katara whispered, "It's about time," before leaning her head against his.

Some training, it seemed, took longer to sink in than others.

-End

A/N: Story takes place sometime while the group is on Ember Island. Just ignore EIP for this fun little fluffy romp. It kind of came to me when I saw Cave of Two Lovers and Katara correcting Aang's stance with the octopus form. Made me wonder what would happen if she purposely taught him the wrong stance just to be able to touch him. I just thought this was a fun story.


	11. Ch 11: A Little Touch of Family

Avatar the Last Airbender

A Little Touch of Family

It had become a nightly ritual. Aang sleeping soundly in bed, his warm body snuggled as closely to the beautiful waterbender as physically possible while her arms draped protectively over his slumbering form. It seemed the only way she could ease his troubled mind, the crushing duty to protect the world that settled firmly on his shoulders during his waking hours. Just being near her gave him a sense of peace, a moment of hopeful naiveties that the world could survive without his intervention for a while, and allow him to be in the one place where he was happiest.

Katara couldn't deny herself the gradual smile that often tugged at the corner of her lips as she lovingly stroked the angel-soft skin of her lover's face, drinking in the sense of wonderment she felt whenever her fingers elicited a sigh of comforted release from the young man's lips. She loved him. It was such a simple phrase that could never fully encompass the all-consuming extent of the emotions she cherished for her beloved Avatar. She was addicted to him, it was just that simple. Every smile, every laugh, every flirting glance and enticing, lingering touch and hungry kiss made her need him more, and she prayed to the Spirits that she never lost that rapture. Her only regret was her inability to tell him in words how much he meant to her. But that problem would soon resolve itself.

Often in the early morning hours, she would watch him sleep, fighting her own bitterness that the people so often took him for granted, expected him to fix their problems and save the world. Most days she hid those feelings from Aang, some days she didn't and on those days when he needed her most, her strength to be his anchor, she found her place in the world almost as important as his. The world needed the Avatar, but Aang needed her.

As she maintained her soothing ministrations, his sleeping form stirred from slumber as his gray eyes fluttered open, as smile of serenity dawning his features.

"Good morning," Katara smiled to the waking form of the young airbender who returned her greeting.

"It most certainly is," he replied, leaving no confusion to his meaning as he stared pointedly at her alluring face, earning a graceful blush that painted Katara's features. So long as he would live, he would never grow tired of seeing her flushed cheeks at just the mere compliment offered. That was how he knew he was truly blessed, because she was with him.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked after a moment of contemplative silence, noticing the preoccupied expression on her tanned visage.

"I was wondering," she said after another silence that stretched comfortably between the pair, her fingers never ceasing in their pattered stroking along the subtle curve of his jawline. "Maybe I've never thought to ask before, but would you tell me about Gyatso?"

Whatever the young Avatar expected from his partner, this was certainly not among the many subjects he considered, and the expression dawning across his brow spoke of his apparent confusion. "You want me to tell you about Monk Gyatso? What brought this on?"

Shrugging as well as she could considering she was lying on her side, Katara offered a hopeful smile before continuing. "Well, truthfully I've always been curious. We've never really talked about him. I only know that he taught you airbending, but…I don't know, I guess I've always wondered what kind of man he was. I just never brought it up before now because I knew it was always a painful subject for you and well, I guess now was as good a time as any."

Smiling at her simplified over-explanation she only embarked on when she was nervous, Aang moved his body to snuggle closer to Katara's warmth. For a moment, his eyes took on a very faraway look, as if remembering the times spent with his long deceased mentor before starting. "Well," again a pause fell between the two as Aang contemplated how best to describe the greatest man he ever knew, a man who taught him so much about life and how to be a person who would make him proud. "I suppose if I were to give you an example of the type of man he was, I'd have to say that Gyatso was to me what Iroh is to Zuko.

"In the early days, I messed up, I mean I messed up a lot. There were times I thought I'd never master airbender. But Gyatso never gave up on me. Even at my most desperate moments he'd smile that same, endearing smile he always shared for me and tell me, 'life is never easy young airbender,'" Aang said in a strained imitation of his teacher's voice. "'but life never proves as challenging if you cease to try.' What I think I remember best about him was that, even if I struggled learning airbending in the traditional methods, he would show me that I could learn in my own way. No matter how hard things got, he would always offer a smile, an encourage talk and a different way from the traditions the other monks taught on any lesson I had trouble with.

"It's funny, but there was this one time," Aang began, his face lighting in excitement at the memory and Katara could not help but share in that exhilaration, even if she was not present for the event. "Gyatso was trying to teach me to expel wind gusts from my lungs and I kept struggling, thinking I couldn't get enough air in my lungs to blow over a chair let alone a wooden post. So, Gyatso had packed this great, wonderful lunch. But just as I was about to start eating, he stuffed a fruit pie in my face…a whole fruit pie," he said, his eyes alight with laughter at the memory. "Well, obviously I couldn't breath through my mouth so I inhaled through my nose, just as Gyatso jabbed me in the stomach with his fingers. I set a gust of air that blew the fruit pie and the picnic lunch a good quarter mile. That's how he taught me, expel through the mouth while inhaling through the nose and I'd always have enough air. Of course, he made me take my glider to fetch the lunch, so I had to learn quickly about manipulating air currents to stay in the air longer unless I wanted to go hungry, which actually turned out to be the next lesson I had to learn anyway."

"He sounded like a wonderful man."

"He was," Aang said, somewhat sadly, but his smile quickly returned. "But you know, you actually remind me of him."

Katara made a face that told the young man he had said the wrong thing. After a moment of thought, Aang chuckled and shook his head. "I don't mean like that. I mean, no matter how hard things got, you've always been there for me Katara. You've never doubted me and when I felt like I couldn't deal with it any more, you picked me up off the ground and would carry me when I stumbled or give me a swift kick in the rump when that didn't work. So yeah, you have a lot of the same caring qualities I cherished in Gyatso…but you're so much more attractive."

"I should hope so," the waterbender said with a grateful laugh, leaning her head forward to place a soft kiss against his lips. "Do you miss him?"

Shrugging one shoulder, Aang offered only a partial smirk before answering, "Sometimes I do. There are times, especially in our early adventures that I could have used his help. I'm sure General Iroh would be more than happy to offer advice, but I can't monopolize his time either. For Gyatso, it seemed his whole purpose was to just make sure I grew up with the right morals and the right answers. Even when he wouldn't directly solve my problems, he at least guided me to find the answers on my own. I guess I do kind of miss him, now that I think about it."

Again the pair fell to a comfortable silence, staring lovingly into one another's eyes and drinking in their closeness and love when Aang breaks the silence. "So then, if you asked me about Gyatso, can I ask about your mother?"

Now it was Katara's turn to furrow her brow as she realized that she had never really talked to Aang about her mother either. Thinking for a moment, a sad, nostalgic smile crossed her lips before she started, "She was beautiful. I mean, not in appearance, though I suppose she was beautiful in that way to, but I mean as a person. She just had this way about her, that no matter who needed help or what problems were going on in our village she made an effort to be there for everyone.

"She even put up with my father and Bato's antics, which is an act of superhuman endurance I'm sure." She laughed slightly at her own memories before turning her eyes back to Aang. "Unfortunately, that's really all I remember about her, her inexhaustible need to help anyone in trouble. I've tried to model myself after her, set myself to be as good a person as she was…but I can't say I've always lived up to her example. A part of me," Katara broke as a deep, remorseful sigh escaped her lips. This really wasn't how she wanted to lead the conversation, wasn't how she wanted to broach the subject to Aang, but since they were on the subject she might as well see it through. "I sometimes wonder if she'd be proud of me. Do you think she would be Aang?"

The question wasn't lost on the Avatar, the pleading, hopeful question of a girl in a woman's body still desperately seeking the approval of her mother. An approval she could never receive. Bringing his fingers to stroke the curve of her cheek and brushing away the unshed tears with his thumb, Aang offered a sad smile as he nodded his head in answer to the poignant question. "I think your mother would be very proud of you."

The words brought a smile to the young woman's face as she pulled her lover into an embrace that spoke the words that always caught in her throat. For a while they remained that way, until Katara said, "I really wished you had to the chance to meet her Aang. She'd have really loved you."

"You think?"

"Of course," Katara responded, pulling back to gaze at the young man. "You make me happy."

"Well, that's good to know," he joked, a crooked smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'd hate to think you stuck with me while being miserable." After a few laughs earned from their bittersweet memories Aang asked the next question that seemed to be picking at his brain since this conversation began. "So, why _did_ you want to know about Gyatso?"

Smiling in response, Katara answered, "I guess I was just curious. I mean, I figured you probably got your playful learning habits from him. I wanted to know how he taught you, how he influenced you. It was nice to hear you talk about him. I never got to meet the man and he was such a big part of your life that, I guess I wanted to share that part of your life as well."

Aang couldn't ignore that she was again over-explaining things, but he let it slide as he cuddled closer to her once more and rested his head against her shoulder. He knew her well enough to know whatever reason she had initiated all of this would be coming soon.

"Well," Katara continued, her hand moving back to tenderly stroking the side of Aang's face. "It's just, I'm glad we both had such a strong parental influence. I mean, I love my dad, don't get my wrong, but my mom is really the center of who I am. Sounds like Gyatso was the same for you huh?"

"Yeah, I guess he was," Aang said, his eyes drifting closed once more in the presence of the comfort that he felt being in Katara's arms. "Do you think we'd be as good a parental influence as Gyatso and your mother?"

"I'd like to think so," Katara said, smiling slightly as she hid her expression from Aang. "But I guess like all parents, we'd learn by doing. Can always use Gyatso's patience and my mother's compassion as sort of a foundation for raising children, but we'd have to do it on our own…our own way."

"Don't we always?"

Another laugh chimed from Katara's lips as she kissed the top of Aang's arrow and nuzzling her face against the top of his head. "So, do you ever think about it? Having kids I mean?"

"Sometimes," he said, his fingers finding pleasure in toying with the hem of Katara's nightshirt. "But I guess the Spirits will let us know when it's time."

Smiling almost shyly at her own efforts to keep her eyes from spilling over, Katara gripped Aang's wrist and slid it beneath the fabric of her nightshirt, allowing his thin fingers to rest purposely on her stomach. Aang simply swirled his fingers, drawing obscure designs against Katara's soft skin before moving his eyes to meet her direct, meaningful blue orbs. For a moment that stretched the limit of infinity and beyond, they gazed intently into one another's eyes until slow dawning reality settled on the Avatar and the meaning of Katara's question, the placement of his hand against her stomach and the meaningful, telltale look she gave him brought the slow realization to his mind.

"The Spirits say we have about seven months."

A slow, dawning awe encompassed his face, starting at the eyes and spreading to consume his features until he turned his eyes to the place where his hand rested against Katara's skin, the spot where the tiny little life that they created was growing. Eyes softly glistening with unshed tears, a gentle smile parting his lips in fascination as he quickly sat up in bed and lifted Katara's shirt to reveal her stomach, as if he could see through the skin and muscle to his child within.

Katara laughed at the childish fascination exhibited by Aang, her own eyes brimming with unshed tears at the reality that they would be parents, the responsibility, the joy and the reality that they would bring a new life into this world. She let out another laugh as Aang's searching, hopeful eyes moved from her face to her stomach as the fascination soon gave way to joy.

The Avatar spent several minutes moving his finger tips over Katara's smooth belly, ignoring the suppressed laughter her ticklish skin made before dipping his head low and kissing the spot where he was certain his developing child was nestled. He then moved his lips up Katara's body, up past her stomach, over the slope of her breast, against the curve of her neck until his lips found hers. He pressed his lips fervently, lovingly, passionately against hers, pulling away only to pull her into a crushing embrace. He could no longer hold back the flow of emotion that poured from his body as he cried in joyful release all his hopes for the future that existed right here in his arms.

"Thank you," he said desperately, hoping Katara knew what this meant to him. In truth, he had been holding out hope for this for longer than he cared to realize. He wanted a child, a legacy beyond his title of Avatar. A youngling just to call him father…and now, he was going to have that. "Thank you for giving this to me."

Unable to keep her own joy in check any longer, Katara returned his embrace, her lips seeking his out once more as their tears mingled against their lips, leaving a taste both sweet and salty. "I love you."

The words didn't seem to be enough, and yet in the moment of their greatest joy, those words were simply the most fitting.


	12. Ch 12: The Great Cactus Juice Debacle

A/N: Please bear with me for this story. Every so often we all have the itch we have to scratch, and this is mine. That being said, this story had nothing at all to do with the Pillow Talk theme and is straight up crack. But hopefully you'll get some laughs out of it.

For Athena's Wise Girl, who requested a Maiko chapter, hope your happy.

Avatar the Last Airbender

Pillow Talk Chapter 12: The Great Cactus Juice Debacle

Zuko knew this was not the way he wanted the day to start. Planning for his wedding with Mai was expected to be a monumental day in the history of the Fire Nation, and knowing full well that the 100 years of war had left the world sorely mistrusting the once tyrannical empire meant that, with hope, this wedding would rebuild some of that peace between the nations. His closest advisors however questioned the motives of Zuko's timing as his wedding was scheduled for the three-year anniversary ending the war. To his aides it seemed self-serving, but for Zuko it somehow felt right that the celebration of peace should forever be remembered with a dedication of love.

Still, it had not stopped the endless bickering of his counsel, reminding him that other nations would see this as a means to take away from the bittersweet celebration marking the end of the war for his own declaration of self-importance. For all his patience, a strange adjective for himself considering his past, he could not convince them that this wedding was, yes, a symbol of love between himself and Mai, but also a wondrous opportunity to move beyond the pains of the past. And given that the war had ended on the Summer Solstice, the day that had historically been designated as the symbol for the Fire Nation, the pieces were all too perfect to pass.

Yet, the meeting had been exhausting, and when Zuko at last dismissed his advisors, telling them in no uncertain terms that the discussion was closed, he had not realized how completely exhausted he was. That was how he came to find himself in the royal kitchen, looking for food and drink to help placate his nerves before speaking to Mai about the possible need to postpone their wedding. Even though his servants made every attempt to accommodate his needs, at this time he just felt the desire to be alone with his thoughts.

At least that was his intent before her heard the muffled moans coming from the far side of the kitchen where stood the blue garbed warrior, his hands bound behind his back and his feet tied at the ankles, a large turkeyhen where his face should be. For a moment Zuko was alarmed by the thought that what truly startled him wasn't that Sokka had a turkey for a face, but that he had forgotten the Southern Water Tribe warrior had arrived early for the upcoming wedding. He supposed, traveling with his friends for so long had desensitized him to the oddities they seemed to partake, though he couldn't recall a time Sokka had attempted to eat a large poultry from the inside out.

Sighing in a sense of the coming inevitable strangeness that would be his life, Zuko closed the pantry door and moved to where his friend struggled to remain standing as he tugged the large bird from around Sokka's head.

"Ahhhhh!" the boomerang expert gasped, sucking in air as though his lungs were starved for oxygen, which Zuko found quite believable, if not a touch overdramatic, given the limited cavity space of the plucked fowl that his head was forced to occupy. "Oh Zuko, thank the Spirits, she's gone insane!"

There were so many strange peculiarities about the situation that Zuko wasn't quite sure where to start. Who has gone insane? Why was Sokka tied up like a criminal? Where was the kitchen staff and why was he wearing a turkeyhen? Of all the questions Zuko could ask, the one the fought for dominance from his voice was simply, "Sokka, what were you doing with this turkeyhen?"

Crinkling his brow slightly in thought as he hopped a few times to maintain his balance, Sokka shook his head in confusion as to the question and replied with his simplest response, "Well I was hungry."

"I've never questioned your way of eating before but really, this seems a bit…off."

"You're kidding right? How exactly could I shove that turkeyhen on my head? I mean, was it before or after I tied my hands behind my back?"

"I don't know Sokka, I've seen you do stranger things," Zuko replied, tossing the baked fowl onto the stainless steel prep table.

The sword master opened his mouth to protest, thought about the Fire Lord's statement, then closed it again. Sokka couldn't, in all honesty, argue Zukko's point and rather decided to address the present situation. "Could you at least untie me?" He asked, hopping a few more times for emphasis on his current lack of balance.

Heaving another deep breath of surrender that his life was and would always be one misadventure after another, Zuko retrieved a knife from his belt and cut the bindings loose from Sokka's hands and feet. "So, what exactly happened anyway?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, she's gone crazy!" the warrior screamed, flailing his newly free arms wildly as if to further emphasis his point, or attempt to take flight, Zuko wasn't quite sure which. "I was hungry so I came down to the kitchen to grab a bit to eat and then when I just pulled the turkeyhen out of the pantry to make myself a sandwich, she charged in with the craziest look I've ever seen and then proceeded to try to force the turkeyhen, the WHOLE turkeyhen into my mouth. Seriously, I think she dislocated my jaw. But when she figured it wouldn't fit, she shoved it over my head. Seriously, my face has gone where no face has gone before."

"Up the ass end of a turkeyhen," Zuko remarked dryly as he again looked at the discarded poultry and wondered how Sokka's head managed to fit in the much smaller crevice. For the briefest of moments Zuko imagined that this must have been what giving birth was like, and the image of Sokka being born by a dead, plucked and baked bird that he was intending to eat caused an unsolicited chuckle from the Fire Lord.

"Oh, go ahead and laugh it up Zuko, but we've got a problem here. Mai's gone completely off her rock."

"Wait…Mai?" Zuko said, his eyes narrowing in confusion at the revealed identity of the culprit. "Mai shoved your head into that bird?"

"Yes Zuko, Mai, M-A-I, Mai. She's lost her mind."

"Well, that doesn't sound like her…"

"Which part? Her attacking me, tying me up or shoving a roast duck…"

"Turkeyhen."

"Fine, a roast turkeyhen over my head."

"Probably the last part, Mai doesn't usually like handling food," Zuko remarked noncommittally as he shrugged his shoulders, making it perfectly obvious that her attacking Sokka was not at all outside of the realm of possibilities for her actions.

"I can't believe how calm you are about all of this."

"Like I said Sokka, traveling around with 'Team Avatar', I've learned to just ignore all the really weird stuff that happens to all of you, which is basically everything."

"Yeah fine, whatever, but we need to track her down before she hurts herself," a look from Zuko reminded Sokka how foolish that statement really was before he amended his view, "I mean someone else."

"I'm sure it's fine. Maybe you're just over-reacting."

"Over reacting? She nearly suffocated me with dinner, how am I over-reacting?"

Before Zuko could answer however, Suki rushed into the kitchen, finding the two men debating the mental health of the Fire Lord's soon to be wife. "Oh Zuko, I'm glad I found you, Mai's…"

"Crazy," Sokka interjected, earning a scornful look from his girlfriend.

"I was going to say not herself," the Kioshi warrior stated, crossing her arms in frustration over her boyfriend's overly blunt assessment, yet before either friend could interrupt, she continued. "She was down in the gardens, screaming at the Turtle Ducks about how they should be mooing like good Ostrich Horses. I walked up to her to see if everything was alright, but when she saw me, she drew a pair of knives, called me a katana and challenged me to 'Mortal Combat', whatever that means. Then she ran off, chasing a firefly and shouting that it was Azula and she was going to kill her for hurting you."

"She really does love me," Zuko replied at hearing the last statement, his cheeks coloring slightly over the admission and ignoring the painful facepalm of his two friends.

Before either Sokka or Suki could wonder if Zuko was really the sane one, the subject of their concerns burst through the kitchen door, her perfectly constructed hair a disheveled mess and her eyes wide with frantic confusion. When those same, manic eyes fell on Sokka however, the warrior cringed in fear as the knife expert sped directly at him, colliding with his body and forcing him against the counter.

"Oh Sokka," Mai purred in a voice that was anything but threatening, "Oh I've been dreaming of you all day my dear, dear, lovely Sokka."

"Okay, I thought cramming the turkeyduck over my head was the craziest thing you could have done, but Mai, what the hell are you talking about?" Sokka choked, forcing his head back as far as he could while trying to push Mai and her advances away from him. Suki made a sudden move to save her boyfriend from the creepy motives of their friend, but Zuko put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes scrutinizing the scene as if not really seeing it.

"What do you mean Sokka?" Mai purred as she leaned further towards the struggling warrior. "Every girl has had their chance with you. Yue, Suki, Ty Lee, even dear little Toph. I think I understand what all the attraction is finally about. Come on Sokka, let's you and me have little party."

"Uh, as tempting as that sounds…" Sokka said, still trying to scoot away from Mai before leaning far to the right and shouted over her shoulder. "Oh HI ZUKO!"

"Wha…Zuko?" Mai responded, standing and turning around so quickly a lesser person would have lost their balance. "Oh, Zuko, it's…it's not what it looks like. Uh…he came on to me," Mai screamed and turned quickly, delivering a devastating strike to the side of Sokka's face. The warrior's head spun a full 180, causing his body to coil in response before his legs tangled and he fell to the floor. "You PIG!"

"GAH! She hurt my jaw, AGAIN!"

Without another word Mai sprinted from the kitchen and back into the palace, leaving the three friends startled over the scene before chasing after her. However they made it only a few feet before Zuko ran headlong into a stone barrier that should not have been there. Angrily rubbing his forehead that he was sure was now flatter, Zuko sat up and watched as the stonewall fell back into the floor, leaving the hallway exactly how it always looked.

Standing on the other side of the wall was none other than Toph, her arms crossed in frustration as she looked back over her shoulder towards the hallway. "Damn, I missed."

"Toph, have you seen Mai?" Suki asked, her words coming more forcefully than expected over the fear of their friend's condition.

"Did I see her? What do you think that big block was for?" Toph argued as she turned back towards her friends, her arms crossed in her typical style and her eyes narrowing as if the question was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.

"So you tore a chunk out of the palace floor to try to block her in?" Zuko asked, shaking his head. "Couldn't you have done something a little less destructive?"

"I wasn't trying to block her in," the Blind Bandit remarked, unfolding her arms and instead putting her hands on her hips. "I was trying to smoosh her."

"What?…WHY would you do that?"

"Because she was annoying me, why else?" Toph threw back in a manner of nonchalance, as though the whole subject was self-explanatory. "She kept rambling on about going off to ride wild Hogmonkeys or something, I don't know."

"She's not herself Toph, we have to stop her…"

"You know what I just heard?" Toph replied, making a hand-puppet gesture with her hand, " 'Oh Toph, I'm so annoying, yes I deserve to be smooshed like a bug. Help put me out of myself and everyone else's misery.' Well sure Zuko, it'll be my pleasure." The blind earthbender replied, cracking her knuckles loudly.

Before any of the three companions could determine whether Toph was serious or not however, Katara and Aang joined the group conversing in the hallway. "You know, I think there's something wrong with Mai," Aang said unnecessarily as he scratched the side of his head.

"Really, what was your first clue?" Toph remarked bluntly as she tapped her foot against the floor. "That fact that she's running around like a madwoman or the fact that she was coming onto Sokka like a drunken harlot."

The final statement caused a number of very strange looks from the gathered friends to meet Toph's unseeing eyes as the earthbender merely shrugged her shoulders as if already knowing the question. "You guys keep forgetting that I have excellent hearing. I heard the entire conversation, and for the record, Sokka liked it a lot more than he let on. I could hear his heartbeat down the hall."

An angry scowl from his girlfriend and a quick blow across the face, and Sokka again hit the ground in pain.

"Yeah," Aang replied, ignoring the writhing form of his eventual brother-in-law and continuing with his announcement. "Either of those reason's Toph mentioned are pretty good, but I was going to say that Mai set fire to the north tower."

"What?" Zuko said, his words biting in shock and wondering when his world had become so amazingly discombobulated. Hurrying down the hallway, Zuko made his way towards one the window that would give him a view of the tower. Sure enough, it was in flames. "How did she manage to do that?"

"Well, I was in the tower doing some research in the library when Mai jumped in through one of the windows," Katara began, shaking her head at the memory of what had happened. "I'm not really sure how she even managed to scale her way up the entire tower at all to do that, but I guess that's not important. She started shouting out firebending techniques and then threw a couple of lanterns into the center of the library and caught a nice bookshelf on fire. From there it just all sort of exploded."

"Why didn't you put it out Katara?" Zuko asked, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "You are a waterbending master."

"Are you crazy? Mai scares me," Katara replied as she shook her head at the memory. "I got the hell out of there."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Zuko said grievously as he leaned against the wall of his castle, trying desperately to regain control of an out of control situation. "Aang, can you put the fire out for me?"

"Oh sure, always dump all your problems on the Avatar. No, 'hi Aang, I haven't seen you in a year and a half, how you been?' or 'Hey Aang, do you think you can manage to stick around for a little longer than a few weeks this time?' No, it's always, 'Oh Avatar, help us, Old Lady Parker's sheep have run off and we need you to help find them' not bothering to tell me the sheep are stashed in the barn and kept quiet as a way to keep me in town a few days longer than needed. No, not like I had anywhere else to be, I'm only the Avatar you know, keeper of the peace and balance of this whole fricken world, and yet some little hovel of a village wants bragging rights that the Avatar stayed at their cozy little inn and I'm kept against all common sense and made to look for their stupid sheep that WEREN'T EVEN MISSING!"

"Yeah, you know what I heard just then?" Toph began, again raising her arm to emulate the hand puppet. "Blah, blah blah, cute little fuzzy sheep…blah blah blah, I'm an annoying prat and I really look forward to the day Toph squishes me…blah blah."

"But Toph…"

"Did I mention you were annoying me?"

"Fine," Aang stated in defeat, recalling the repressed memory of the last time Toph was annoyed with him and suppressing the shudder that worked its way up his spine. Unfolding his glider, Aang leapt from the windowsill, making his way towards the burning tower while the rest of the friends decided on the next course of action.

"So, does anyone have any idea what's going on with Mai?" Suki asked, her frown cutting deeply into her features as she contemplated what they each knew.

Toph however shook her head and pointed accusingly towards Sokka, "Why not ask Snoozles there? He started it all."

Four sets of eyes turned towards Sokka as the warrior blanched from the angry glares received from his friends and family. "I don't know what you're talking about Toph…"

"Save it Sokka," the earthbender announced as she fixed her unseeing eyes on the culprit. "I could smell Mai's breath. It was the same scent on your breath when we were trapped in the desert, remember?"

"You don't mean," Katara asked, putting her hand to her forehead as she shook her head in disbelief. "Sokka, did you really give Mai cactus juice?"

"Why is it always my fault?"

"Because you're usually the one who does these things," Suki followed up, glaring at her boyfriend and causing him to recoil in mortal fear. "I don't even know what this cactus juice is, but I'm guessing it's what's causing Mai's mental meltdown."

"Look, okay, I did bring cactus juice to the palace…don't look at me like that," Sokka said in response to Katara's displeased expression. "I wanted to show Zuko okay? Three years ago when I broke my leg off that stupid airship and it had been too long and you couldn't have healed it for me, Suki and I went into the desert and got some cactus juice. A simple drop took away all my pain and it was non-addictive so I thought to bring it to one of Zuko's alchemists or healers as a possible pain reliever. As long as it's in moderation it's a good thing."

"So wait," Katara responded, her eyes narrowing in speculation as she turned her gaze from Sokka to Suki, pointing an accusatory finger much the way Toph had done at the Kyoshi warrior. "You were a part of this mess? What was all that, 'I don't even know what cactus juice is' nonsense?" Katara asked, her voice deepening in mocking imitation of the female warrior.

"We can save the finger pointing later, right now we need to find Mai." Toph said, but Zuko cut off her words.

"No need, she's standing on top of the north tower." Sure enough, the five friends gawked out the window and watched Mai pounding her chest and swatting at Aang who seemed to be circling her and hoping to find a way to bring her down. With no other alternatives, Aang collapsed his staff and sent a gust of air at Mai the knocked her from the roof, before reforming his glider and flying after her.

Zuko's heart caught in his chest as he watched his fiancé tumble from the peak of the north tower until Aang emerged from the absence of space, Mai clinging tightly to the glider as the two flew through the window occupied by the onlookers, the Avatar and his passenger crashing into the five friends.

Somehow, despite the tangled and bruised bodies, they all ended up in an embrace, thankful that the situation had not been worse. The apparent fall from the tower had also seemed to shock the cactus juice out of Mai's system, as she sat in stunned silence, Zuko on one side and Katara on the other, wondering one simple question…how the hell did she wind up on the top of the north tower?

A/N: Told you, this story was pure crack, but it was fun to write. As always, if you got a laugh or enjoyed reading this quirky work of fanfiction, please feel free to leave a review. Love those reviews. Thanks.


	13. Ch 13: Time's Lament

Avatar the Last Airbender

Pillow Talk, Chapter 13: Time's Lament

The winter season was perhaps Katara's favorite time of year, bringing the blustery winds and freezing climates that brought forth memories of her home in the Southern Water Tribe. There were times when she desperately missed her home, and the seasonably blistering temperatures helped ease her apprehensive mind and homesick heart.

Of course, the real reason she had come to love this time of year was because it legitimized her an unnecessary excuse to snuggle closer to the warm body of her beloved Aang. Not that she needed a reason, the two found any and every excuse and opportunity to cuddle in each other's arms. For the years since the war, their relationship had evolved from cautious flirtations to all-consuming love, and both Aang and Katara could not imagine that there were any two people on the planet who had ever shared a love as deeply defining as theirs.

Thinking of such simple pleasures; a tigerlily blossom on their anniversary, a lingering touch or meaningful look in a crowded room, those long, hungry kisses that erupted along every nerve of her body and made her want to love him with every fiber of her being. Those small moments of their lives were what defined her love for the Avatar, and they brought a smile of deep satisfaction to her lips whenever those memories danced across her heart.

And thus she found herself, on this plush feather mattress as she snuggled further beneath the blankets, her hand moving to where her lover lay, only to have her hand settle against the empty space. Startled awake by the missing form of her partner, Katara's eyes opened in bleary confusion as she craned her neck to look around the interior of their bedchamber before calling out in a weary voice, "Aang?…"

There was no answer, and confusion gave way to apprehension as she pulled the covers from herself and stood to find her missing lover. Wrapping a dressing robe around her waist as she shuffled down the hallway, Katara called his name a few more times with no answer before hearing what sounded like screaming echoing from the terrace, causing a chill to course its way down the length of Katara's spine. Apprehension giving way to unshakable fear, the young waterbender rushed with abandon as she at last threw open the doors to the courtyard, coming to a sudden stop as Aang's body was illuminated in the Avatar state, his face turned towards the shimmering moon that remained watchful in the evening sky.

"KOH!" Aang screamed, his voice echoing in reverberation from the thousand lifetimes that had come before. "I know you can hear me Koh! Give her back to me, do you hear? Give HER BACK!"

The scene was confusing enough for Katara without wondering who or what Aang was calling for, and she took a step forward, her foot sounding loudly against the stone floor. Hearing her approach, Aang turned his sinisterly glowing eyes upon her, bringing a trembling sense of fear as looked into the eternally endless lifetime that reflected there within. "You were not supposed to see this," the overlapping voice spoke, his face nearly scowling in frustration at being discovered.

Katara was not at all afraid of Aang however, even in his Avatar state, she was the only one who could talk him down, the only one he'd never harm. What brought her instincts to warn her of the figure before her was the sense that something was unnaturally wrong with the young man. "A-Aang?" She asked hesitantly, hoping that she could again bring him back to her. However his words came crashing down upon her in shattering resolution.

"No, I am not your Aang," the voice spoke as he turned back to gaze at the moon, his attention seemingly divided between his earlier angry outbursts and the young woman standing before him, asking for her lover. "I am Avatar Kuruk."

She knew the name; any waterbender would recognize the name of the last Avatar of the Northern Water Tribe. However, rather than feeling humbled to be in his presence, the man who was an inspiration for waterbenders the world over, she felt a deep resentment at his uninvited intrusion into her life, and the life of Aang. "Why are you here Kuruk? What have you done with Aang?"

"Your Avatar is safe. He merely sleeps within this form," he stated briefly before turning to face her once more. "As to why I am here, I am in need of his services."

Something about the statement did not seem right. If Kuruk needed Aang's help, why not ask him directly or come in a vision, why inhabit his body? But therein was the source of Katara's confusion. She had witnessed both Roku and Kyoshi called forth from the past, their spirits overwriting Aang's and taking their own physical form when doing so. Kuruk however, remained in the body of Aang, only his mind seemed to supercede him. In both previous occurrences, Aang had willingly accepted their assistance, enabling them to take their physical form, but not this time, which meant…

"You've kidnapped him!" She said angrily, approaching the glowing form of her lover who was presently possessed by the spirit of his past life. Had she not been so terrified what might happen to him, Katara might have found the situation ironic. "Give. Him. Back."

"I cannot," Kuruk said simply, his eyes again turning towards the moon and drawing Katara's attention to it as well. "You know what this day is, don't you?"

"The Winter Solstice."

"Yes, the day when the boundary between the spirit realm and the mortal realm is at its weakest. It has been many centuries since a Winter Solstice has fallen on the day of the full moon, meaning my power has never been so encompassing."

"Which is how you managed to take control of Aang's body," Katara whispered as she turned her eyes back to the foreign spirit in the familiar body. "I don't care about any of that, give him back to me now!" As if to further make her point, Katara drew upon her powers, summoning the frozen water from the snow and ice and calling it to herself.

Kuruk seemed only mildly amused however as he waved his hand, causing the water to freeze against her arms. "You would fight me little sister. You really don't know what you're dealing with."

"I may not know who you are, but I know Aang is still in there, and he would never hurt me."

The statement caused Kuruk to deflate only slightly as he bowed his head, the ice encasing Katara's arms melting off her and sloshing against the cobbled floor. "You are right, Katara, Aang does love you, more than you can realize. His love for you is so strong that it has sent ripples through all the past lives of the Avatar's so that we each have experienced it. There has only ever been one love as devoted as his for you, and that is mine…for my wife Ummi.

"That is why I am in need of his body, so that I may at last face Koh and release her from her torment." Kuruk said, his anger abating, as he seemed to emotionally crumble at the mention of his wife. "Three Avatars have come after me. That is three lives of new techniques and wisdom. With that, I can free her, I know it."

"And what happens to Aang?" Katara asked bitterly. She could not deny she did not feel pity for Kuruk's troubles, but the thought of losing her beloved airbender sent a quiver of fear racing through her veins. She would not lose him, and she would steel herself against the will of this arrogant Avatar if need be to ensure he was returned to her.

"If all goes well, nothing needs to happen to him. He will be returned safely back to you."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then the Avatar will be reborn into the next cycle as is the way of the spirit."

"I won't let you do that," she said simply, and though her words were bitter, she struggled to see the man who inhabited the body of _her_ Aang. She would not lose him, not to his past lives, not to anyone. If Kuruk so wanted to reclaim his wife from the Face Stealer, then he could do so without Aang. This was not his destiny.

"You can't stop me," Kuruk replied simply, his voice sounding eerily ethereal in the Avatar state. But as he turned, preparing to leave, he did not expect to feel the lithe form of the waterbender crash against him, her fists pounding against his back as hot, angry tears spilled from her eyes.

"Give him back to me, please…" she begged, her voice hitching under the crushing weight that this man, this former Avatar would steal away with the body and spirit of the man she loved, taking with it her heart, her soul and her reason for living. She couldn't bear the thought of it, and if she knew she could not fight him into submission, perhaps she could reason with him. He had to be a good man once. "You can't take him me. I need him." The words were barely audible beneath the crippling sobs that ravaged the young woman as she clung ever so tightly to the folds of Aang's robes.

"And I need my wife," Kuruk replied simply, his words hollow and empty, as though that admission had drained him of all resolve, leaving him a husk of what he once was. "For more than 400 years I have sought a way to free her. Would you deny me that?"

"Would you?" Katara practically screamed, her eyes bleeding tears as she turned her desperate face to the glowing eyes. "I'm sorry about Ummi, I truly am. Koh had no right to steal your wife from you. But you have no right to take Aang from me…"

"You can't possibly know what it's like…"

"Yes I can. Because you're making me live it right now," Katara wept, her knees buckling slightly as she lowered herself to the deck, her fingers still clutching the hemline of Aang's robe. She was suffocating, she was drowning in her own fears that this man, this former Avatar would simply vanish, taking Aang with him and she'd never see him again. "Please don't do this…I beg you, let him go."

For several moments that seemed to stretch hours, the two stayed as they were, with Katara kneeling in the dirt and whispering pleas of mercy that Kuruk would release Aang and leave them alone while the former Avatar remained unnaturally quiet. Finally, Katara felt a pair of strong hands grip her shoulders and lift her unsteadily to her feet. Despite the luminous glow of the Avatar's eyes, there seemed to be a sadness that settled within his posture.

"I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you," Kuruk said, in final resolution before closing his eyes. "You must promise me that you will never take him for granted. Do not fall victim to my folly. Celebrate my love for Ummi through each other. That is all I ask."

"Wh-what are you?…" Katara began, however she never finished the question as the illuminating tattoos and shining eyes of the Avatar spirit slowly faded, returning Aang to himself as he swayed on his feet and collapsed painfully to his knees.

"Uh…" Aang moaned quietly as Katara fell to her knees beside him, squeezing him tightly around the neck as her moist cheeks brushed against his chilled skin. "Katara? What am I doing out here on the patio? And…are you crying. What's wrong Katara, what is it?"

She didn't respond though, she couldn't. Her words had fallen silent. Instead she pressed her lips against, repeatedly kissing him his face until her lips had touched every available patch of skin. "I love you," she spoke simply, the all-consuming fear that she had nearly lost him had become nearly a tangible force as she buried her face into the crook of his neck and let the tears of both panic and relief pour from her. "I love you so much Aang, I just…I…" Her words had petered off against the hitching tears that had caused her body to shake with emotions too powerful to contain.

At a loss as to what this was all about and feeling he had missed something dramatically important; Aang could only tighten his arms around his lovely sifu and whisper reassuring words and promises that everything would be okay. And all the while, the moon stared sadly down at the scene between these two young lovers and moved along its steady course.

A/N: I'm not really sure what motivated this story, but it just kind of attached itself to my brain and wouldn't let go. It did take me a while to find Kuruk's wife's name, but I guess I'm kind of happy about the way this turned out.

Anyway, as always, reviews are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated. Thank you.


	14. Ch 14: Bittersweet Melodies

A/N: Timeline – The Serpent's Pass

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pillow Talk

Chapter 14: Bittersweet Melodies

Life wasn't simple, the world wasn't simple and to the young man staring pointedly at the dirt worn path, kneading his forehead with his weary fingers, it was if nothing in his life had ever been…simple.

He had spent the last several hours thinking of her. Her beautiful clear-blue eyes and radiant smile; the way she would laugh at his corny jokes, the way she smelled like lilacs, even when none were around. And then there was the way she would look at him, her eyes dancing in the way they always had, beautiful and bold, glimmering with just a touch of hope while echoing an unmistakable expression of sadness. He wanted desperately to take that sadness from her. To fill her life with the hope and love that consumed her in those rare moments when she was not strangled by her duties and responsibilities. He wanted to make her happy, despite how useless that desire was.

But most of all, he remembered how she died, sacrificing her life for all the people of this planet who depended on the light of the moon. And those angry tears of uselessness burned at the corner of his eyes as he was reminded again of holding her in his arms as she faded from existence, that last lingering kiss that still stayed with him. Even now his lips tingled with that same longing sensation and he doubted he'd ever forget that. His thoughts, as so often happened of late, resided on what could have been, or if the Spirits were more benevolent, _what should have been_ the perfect love story.

Rather he was left with his thoughts, both bitter and angry, that what he wanted in life was denied him.

Then there was Suki. Her presence among their tiny little group confused him. He wasn't so dense as to not to realize what she wanted from him, and if were to be honest with himself, some part of him was happy that she was here. She had never strayed far from his mind, until he had found Yue. And the tragic end to that relationship had shocked him into a sense of denial, closing off his heart for fear of being hurt again. He didn't want to hurt anymore.

But here she was, the beautiful Kyoshi Warrior who had muscled her way into their journey through the Serpent's Pass, fighting to reclaim her place in his heart, even if she had to tear that closed door protecting him from that revealing pain off it's hinges. And despite his best efforts to shut her off, to protect himself from what was likely to be another tragic ending to a story he'd rather not be a part of, she was resilient. Even if she wasn't forceful in her actions, she expertly toed the line between cautious optimism and fearful rejection that danced between the two extremes of where their relationship was bound to end. And despite his best efforts, Sokka felt himself vainly hoping for something to change in that relationship, but what that hope consisted of changed by the minute, leaving him as confused as the young woman who had initiated this deep-rooted introspection.

Raising his eyes from the dirt to the evening twilight stars, he fixed his visage upon the moon, ignoring the burning prickling in the corner of his eyes or the blurring vision that resulted. His breaths came somewhat unsteadily as he quieted his mind, hoping to hear Yue's voice in the wind, telling him what to do. Because at this moment he wasn't sure if Suki's arrival was Yue's attempt to comfort him, or torment him.

The longs of his silent lamentations had come to an end however at the softly scraping sounds of footsteps making their way towards his position. In truth, he was fully expecting Suki to come to him once again; perhaps she would apologize again for trying to kiss him last night. But when he at last tore his gaze away from the moon and turned toward his approaching companion, he was strangely saddened, and a little relieved that it wasn't Suki but Toph that made her way to sit beside him.

"What are you doing out here Snoozles? It's the middle of the night." She asked, not bothering to wait for an invitation or greeting before speaking in her own earthbender style of bluntness.

"I just wanted some time to think about some stuff Toph, that's all."

"Well you've been '_thinking about stuff'_ for the last three hours," she said, shrugging her shoulders in a show of indifference at the belligerent expression he flashed her. "Yeah, I've been keeping track."

"Why?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "You should be sleeping."

"Yeah well," the Blind Bandit replied, turning her face slightly. For a moment, she was incredibly uncomfortable with the course the conversation had taken. "I guess I've just gotten used to hearing you snore at night. It's hard to sleep without the lulling sound of a beaverbear growling a sleeping bag away."

Sokka flashed her an indignant look as he shook his head. "Your one to talk Toph. Every time I try to sleep beside you I'm afraid a nest of angry flyhornets are coming to attack me. And that's _with_ your earth tent up."

"Bet you didn't know rock carried sound so well did you?" Toph replied, flashing a devious grin at the warrior before reclining back to lean on her hands. "So, whatcha doing out here?"

The earlier thoughts that had troubled his mind returned in full force, causing the young man to chew his lip nervously. For several moments the silence stretched between the two companions, an uneasy silence that held weight of two lives within it. Toph however was not the patient sort and did not wish to wait for Sokka to sort out his dilemma before talking to her. "Fine," she said, rising to her feet purposely as she turned to make her way back to the campsite. "If you decide to open your big mouth, let me know, but I'm going to sit here and watch you sulk all night."

The reaction seemed to startle Sokka from his musings as he turned his attention to Toph. He hadn't realized how much he wanted someone to talk to about his tumbling emotions until his friend had made to leave. "I don't know what I'm doing," he replied simply, his words spoken quietly in the silent evening air.

Toph turned back towards Sokka and crossed her arms, "That's rather vague don't you think?" Despite her usually surly comments, she returned to her seat beside the morose young man and stared sightlessly at him. "Do you think you could like, oh I don't know, tell me what's going on?"

Taking a deep breath and securing his thoughts, Sokka continued with a simple question. "Has anyone told you about Princess Yue?"

Twisting her lips from side to side, either through aggravation or thoughtful recognition, Toph shrugged her shoulders. "A little. Katara told me about her when I asked why you keep looking at the moon."

This really confused Sokka who seemed to blanch slightly. "How could you know that?"

"I may be blind Sokka, but I'm not without my other senses. I can generally feel the direction you're staring off at when your heartbeat starts slowing and your breathing sounds sad. After a few times this happened I was curious so I asked Katara."

"I didn't know it was that obvious," Sokka responded, his words echoing embarrassedly as his cheeks flushed. "Do you think…has…"

"Yeah, Suki's noticed it too." And though the words came out frustrated, there was a bite of hurt underlining the tone of her voice that was lost on the young man beside her.

"I don't know what to do Toph," Sokka replied, burying his face in his hands as he shook his head in frustration. "I don't know if moving on with my life, if Yue would approve of that."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"I don't know," Sokka said, and for a moment his words sounded lost and confused, his eyes brimming with tears that carried all the tormenting emotions that warred within him. "She's not here for me to ask."

"Then her opinion shouldn't matter," Toph replied in her usually harsh manner, shrugging her shoulders as Sokka glared at her. "What is it you want to do Sokka, that's what's important."

"I-I don't really know," he answered truthfully, however before he could fall into a further state of introspective depression, a stinging blow struck his arm, causing him to cry out in pain. "Ow Toph, what was that for?"

"You're an idiot, do you know that?" the Blind earthbender replied as she jabbed her finger into his chest. "You keep mooning over the same girl who's dead and gone, wondering how things could have turned out when you've got someone who's crazy about you right in front of you and you're too blind to see it. You can't even see what you're doing to her or how much you're hurting her because you're too caught up on the past. Stop living in the past and start living your life now.

"But oh no," Toph continued, rising to her feet and pacing agitatedly in front of the dumbfounded boomerang expert. "You've got to go pining over some dead princess, ignoring the fact that the girl who's just right for you, who's perfect for you in fact has been here the whole time. And all she's ever cared about was seeing you be happy…even if she doesn't quite know how to tell you. Because she's no good at this love stuff either." Toph said as angry tears began to form in her own eyes, her voice tightening under the strain of maintaining her anger in the hopes that her dignity would not crumble. "Why can't you see what you're doing to her Sokka?"

"That's enough Toph," the warrior screamed, rising to his own feet as the anger boiled in his veins. He couldn't believe Toph would disrespect the dead so antagonistically, especially someone he had cared so much about. "You can't know how it feels to lose someone you love!"

"Yeah, right," Toph answered harshly, the irony of Sokka's statement lost on the Southern Water Tribesman. "Let me ask you something Sokka. If your situations were reversed, if you died first and left Yue here alone…would you want her to mourn you the rest of her life? Or would you want her to live, for you as well as for her?"

Clarity seemed to finally dawn on the warrior, slowly at first as though trying to find fault with the logic of his small but powerful friend. It seemed unbelievable that Yue had been trying to communicate with him all this time, and he was so caught up in his grief and guilt that he ignored all the signs. She wanted him to live, to be happy. That's why she guided Suki to their little mission, to let him know that. Slowly a smile began to form on his lips, his spirit lightening more than he had known in a long, long time. Finally, he understood that Yue was giving him her blessing, to live, to love, to be happy again.

Turning his watery eyes towards his friend, he pulled her into a crushing embrace, holding her tightly as he spoke in such elation that he had found his center, his peace once again thanks to her. "Thank you so much for helping me see what an idiot I've been, Toph." And then pulling back, holding her at arms lengths he turned his face towards the campsite his smile broadened. "I need to talk to Suki."

And with those words, he was gone. Toph stood alone in the silence of the night, blind to the sympathetic moon that shined down on her in her sudden solitude. She fought against the sting, the hurt of that rejection that swelled within the center of her heart and expanded until she found it impossibly difficult to breath. Her eyes began to burn, and she hated the feeling that she would cry, hated that sense of how weak she was. But for tonight, just this once she let those tears fall, because she simply couldn't keep them buried any longer.

"_You can't know how it feels to lose someone you love!"_ His words echoed painfully in her ears and her tears bled from her eyes at the injustice of it all. Because he was too blind to understand what she had meant, what she was trying to tell him. Or perhaps he did understand and simply didn't care.

She knew what it was like to lose someone she loved, because she suffered that indignant regret every time he was with her.

-End

A/N: Well, this was an idea I had a while ago. I know there's a lot of Sokka/Toph fans out there, and I'll admit I've seen hints of Toph crushing on Sokka from time to time in the series, but I think that's because she hides it well. Serpent's Pass was one of the larger examples of that crush she had for him, but I think this scene would have made it evident that she felt something for him. I hope I pulled it off well. The intent was that during her tirade, Toph wasn't talking about Suki, she was talking about herself, hope that made sense.

Also, FYI, I'm starting to dry up on ideas for sweet Kataang moments, so I'm going to ask you, my readers, if there's any scene you'd like to see me write, any pairing (except Zutara – honestly, that relationship just doesn't work) let me know.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and reviews are appreciated.


	15. Ch 15: All We've Lost All We've Gained

Pillow Talk: Chapter 15

**All We've Lost; All We've Gained**

Slow, unsteady steps carried Zuko through the doorway to his personal chambers as he numbly made his way to the plush couch and fell boneless again the supple cushions. At this moment, all he wanted was to drive away the crushing defeat and stifling, suffocating sense of hopelessness that had slowly consumed him body, mind and spirit and devoured any expectation that had foolishly been born from his sense of optimism. He had hoped…ignorantly it would seem, that he would finally have control of his life. He should have known better, known that the world was too cruel to grace him with that sense of peace.

He may have remained this way for hours; he had no way of knowing, with his face pressed against the cushions of the couch as though burrowing himself into the depths of pillowy comfort. He couldn't even remember shifting his position, didn't know that his place on the sofa had changed until he looked up to see Mai's face staring at him with understanding eyes, his head resting against her lap, and not for the first time he blessed the spirits for letting him find this remarkable woman.

For her own part, Mai had stood at the balcony of their bedchamber for the better part of an hour and watched with understanding eyes as Zuko made his way weakly into the palace. She watched him enter the room from her vantage point, watched him collapse against the couch and sighed for her lover at the apparent, devastated emotional state he was suffering. But she would not run to him, would not coddle and elicit mindless words of comfort that would do nothing to ease his troubled spirit.

Zuko was not a man who accepted the world's gifts easily. Everything had a price and he knew well enough to keep a cautious guard when dealing with those he cared most about, because in his life, nothing was permanent. It helped greatly that Mai was not the coddling type, she would tell him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted. For those two things were often very different animals.

And so, she did not rush to embrace him, did not speak those empty promises that things would work out, no matter how much he wanted to hear it. Instead, she waited several moments, waited until the stiffening of his body eased and the heavy breaths of nervous energy fell away from his jumbled form on the couch before taking her place at his side, sliding his head onto her lap and offering her presence as his solace.

"That bad huh?" she asked simply, and though the question was unnecessary, his body language telling all she needed to know, it was an important step in their give and take relationship to establish that initial fragment of conversation.

Several moments of uninterrupted silence passed between them as Mai began smoothing the lines of stress in Zuko's face while the newly crowned Firelord lay dejectedly in her lap. Taking several calming breaths to ease his apprehensive mind, the young man turned his full attention on his beloved girlfriend, "He would barely even look at me." His voice sounded so dejected, Mai could almost feel his body quiver in bitter self-pity. He hated feeling sorry for himself, hated knowing how weak and powerless he was in this situation, and Mai greatly hated knowing there was nothing she could do to remedy that.

"What happened to my family Mai?" A rhetorical question, and one he did not expect an answer for as he closed his eyes at the memory that left him emotionally paralyzed. "Maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to remember we were happy once. Now…my sister's gone insane, my mother is missing and my father is rotting in prison, powerless and hated by his people. And still, he refused to tell me where she was. He even rubbed my face in it, saying that I've taken everything from him…he could at least take this from me.

"What did I ever do to make him hate me so much?" It was a simple question with no simple answer, and Mai knew what he was really asking. Zuko had helped win the war, had helped free his people from a hundred years of conflict, and yet that one thing he had desperately wanted, more than anything, to find his mother, was denied to him. It was as if the universe was not yet done making him suffer. And the universe, it seemed, had manifested itself into a singular being…his father. "I miss her so much," Zuko said brokenly, a single tear managing to slip beneath the closed lid of his eye despite his best efforts to restrain its descent.

Mai raised her thumb to wipe away the arrant tear, a rare gesture of compassion from the often-stoic young woman. "You can be a real idiot sometimes, you know that?"

If he were not so accustomed to Mai's often overly critical assessment of the situation presented to her, Zuko would have been deeply hurt by the scathing remarks. As it was however, he couldn't help but be a little put off by her comments. "Thanks for your bottomless sense of selflessness Mai, it really helps."

"If you want to be all warm and fuzzy Zuko, I'll get you a blanket," the young woman responded blithely as she continued to smooth the troubled lines of his forehead with her delicately dangerous fingers. "But you're missing the larger picture here."

"Which is?"

"Just because someone is related to you by blood, does not make them family."

"Thanks, that helps a lot." Zuko sighed, his head turning away from Mai's so he could brood in his own, silent misery.

"It should," Mai replied, turning his face back to hers, locking his eyes with her own poignant stare. "Because for the better part of half a year, you've been traveling around with a tiny group of friends who are more a family to you than your own father and sister. You even chose to stay with them over your own nation. And you can tout all you want about saving the Fire Nation and your sense of duty, but the truth is Zuko, you stayed with them because you needed them. Because they gave you a sense of purpose and a place to belong, without proving yourself, without expecting anything in return.

"Your father held your honor and respect hostage, only returning it to you if you succeeded in a useless quest. Your sister used you to get what she wanted. Does that sound like the loving family you've been craving?"

"No, it doesn't"

"You know it isn't," Mai recanted as she focused her eyes on Zuko's face, her fingers coming to rest on the scarred and puckered skin of the left side of his face. "A family would never do this to you, a father would never banish his 13-year-old son into the world with no hope of survival or success. A family accepts you for who you are, the good and the bad."

"Do…do you think they really see me that way?" It was small, minute even, but there existed a glimmer of hope in his otherwise skeptical features. There had been so many times, so many desperate moments on his three year exile that he was alone and scared that truthfully, the thought that he belonged, even if it was with his mismatched group of friends, that it remained the only thing would keep him from drowning. Because no matter he might protest, it remained a staple of his psyche that he just wanted to belong.

"There has to be some reason they'd put up with you all this time," Mai replied dryly, shrugging her shoulders, as if the matter was beyond her understanding. He didn't need her to say it, because she really wasn't going to anyway. But the truth was, they needed him as much as he needed them. They were all part of their own orphaned culture, and whether it was the loss of their mother, the inability to live their life how they saw fit while under the oppressive thumb of their over-bearing parents, or the utter ruination of their entire culture because of the war, they all shared a common bond with Zuko in one way or another. Because Zuko had experienced all three emotionally hardening lessons, and he was a reminder in the darkest times to each of them that he survived and thrived despite all of that, and they would too.

Raising his hand to cup Mai's cheek, his eyes swimming with words unspoken but sentiments fully readable on his face, he smiled gently at the woman who watched him expectantly. "When did you get so smart?"

"About the time I started dating my idiot boyfriend," she replied, the hint of a playful smile toying at the corner of her lips.

It was enough. For now, lying in the lap of the young woman who had given him insight and peace of mind in his most troubling times, he found peace with the world. The issue of his mother's whereabouts was not yet settled; it would never be until he found her. But for now, in his own little corner of the world, with this woman and the makeshift family he had not even come to appreciate, he was happy. And that's all he ever wanted.

-End

A/N: For my readers who requested a Maiko fic. I had this one in the back of my head for a while, and I've read a lot of fics where Ozai gives Zuko the information on his mother's whereabouts, but I just don't buy it. Ozai has lost everything, he's bitter and angry. It seems only natural that he'd withhold the one thing Zuko desperately wants.

Anyway, love it or hate it, reviews are always appreciated.


	16. Ch 16: Chasing Panda Lilies

A/N: Timeline – Directly after _The Fortuneteller_

Pillow Talk

Chapter 16: Chasing Panda Lilies

The gentle breeze blowing off the nearby river had done much to comfort the suffering airbender. Only hours before he had stopped a volcano from destroying Aunt Wu's village, but the close proximity to the lava hadn't done him any favors. His clothing was scorched in places and much of his skin not covered by the protective garments was blistered from the intense heat.

He had battled a volcano and proved himself more powerful. But his victory had cost him. And thus, this was where they chose to set up camp, Aang snuggling beneath the blankets as his body shivered from the heat stroke that resulted from his efforts. Katara had insisted on gathering water from the river in the hopes of healing Aang while Sokka made the choice to set up camp.

It was a quiet, picturesque scene the small party of friends would have enjoyed more had Aang not fallen ill. Still, as the young warrior continued setting up the cooking fire, his mind was perplexed by a thought he couldn't quite dismiss.

He hadn't even considered it really until just now, or perhaps his mind had been working it out all this time and he was simply more concerned with other problems, like saving a village full of fools from being dunked in a lava bath. But now that the crisis was over and this strangely revealing, if not peculiar thought had taken root in his over-active mind, he found that he simply could not let it go.

And so, having completed setting up the camp, the young warrior walked toward the form of his bundled friend and plopped himself in the dirt and grass beside him. "So Aang," Sokka spoke in an overtly cheerful way that, had the young Avatar been feeling better, would have put in on an immediately defensive countenance. "Ever since we left the village, something's been bothering me."

"Ugh…" Aang groaned as he turned his face towards his friend and made an effort to sit up, giving up before his blistered skin caused too much discomfort. For his part, Sokka did not seemed perplexed in the least. "What is it Sokka?"

"Well, its just, well you know that girl Meng from the village right?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Okay, well here's what I can't figure out," the older boy said as he leaned back on his hands and fixed the bundled teen with a poignant stare. "While we were in the village you were asking me all these questions about how to get a girl to notice you. Naturally I thought you were talking about Meng. I mean, she seemed pretty interested in you, and well, giving you all that advice and climbing up the mountain to get a Panda Lily, I just assumed you were wanting to give her the flower…"

"Where are you going with this?" Aang asked, his eyes shining worriedly at his friend while trying to piece together his logic.

"I guess it's just that, if you really Meng, then you would have told her goodbye or at least been a little broken up over it. But nope, nothing at all, which makes me wonder if I wasn't wrong about the whole object of your interests. So the question is…who were you trying to impress if not Meng?"

Aang visibly paled under the scrutinizing eye of the older boy while Sokka fixed a suspicious glare at the nervous young man. He had him cornered, and from the look in his eye, Aang understood Sokka was not about the let the issue drop. It seemed at that moment however, Katara returned from her task of gathering water from the river, saving Aang from answering Sokka's question while at the same time damning the young airbender by inadvertently causing him to reveal his feelings for the beautiful young waterbender.

As soon as she returned to the clearing, she smiled in her cheerful way at the pair of them, causing Aang to both flush with shy embarrassment while waving to the returning young woman. The reaction however was not lost on Sokka, and as he turned his face from his sister to his best friend and back again, the pieces of this puzzle tumbled into place and left him shaking his head in silent understanding. "I should have known," he said simply as he turned his attention back to Aang, a look of unrepressed terror shining in his eyes as though afraid Sokka would beat him senseless or worse yet, tell Katara his true feelings.

Sokka however understood all too well how much Katara meant to Aang, and felt a small slither of regret that the fear expressed through the Avatar's eyes were meant for him, because Aang had no way of knowing how Sokka would react now that he knew.

"Katara," Sokka called out, ignoring the blanching cower of the young man beside him. "Did you bring enough water for the stew?"

"We've got enough water for dinner Sokka, this is for Aang," the waterbender said, placing the three large waterskins on the ground and putter her hands to her hips.

"Actually, I accidentally knocked it over, can you get some more?"

"Why can't you get it some water then Sokka, Aang needs this water to feel better."

"Just GET THE WATER WOMAN, I'M HUNGRY!"

"FINE!" Katara screamed, her face flushed with anger as she turned her back on the pair and stormed back into the woods, mumbling to herself about pig-headed brothers. Sokka was certain she was going to burn his meal tonight, but it couldn't be helped, he needed more time to talk to Aang.

For his part, the Avatar flashed a look a both relief and gratitude towards the older boy as he sat up a little straighter. "Y-you're not going to tell her?"

"It all depends," Sokka said shrugging as he turned back towards the boy.

"On what?"

"On whether you tell her or not." When the words caused Aang to pale even further until his skin looked doughy and pallid, Sokka continued. "I think she has a right to know, don't you?"

"But…I can't do it Sokka," Aang moaned, throwing his hands over his face, "You heard what she said about me? I'm just a friend, a 'cute little guy'. She even compared me to Momo."

"Which she said in response to my teasing. You can't take that as a legitimate argument."

"And what if it is? What if that's all she'll ever think of me?" Aang bemoaned his lack of confidence. It seemed wholly unfair that he could face down rogue Spirits and erupting volcanoes, but had no confidence in speaking candidly with the young woman he was deeply infatuated with. He wasn't smooth or suave. He was certainly shorter than Katara which made it all the more awkward and…well, he didn't think he was particularly good looking either. If only he could look like Jet or Haru, but no, he wasn't blessed with natural good looks, at least not the kind that Katara obviously found attractive. He was just himself, goofy, awkward, big-eared and short stature Aang. How could Katara ever look at him as more than a friend?

As this all seemed to work itself out in his mind, depressing Aang further into his own melancholy, Sokka seemed to understand his thoughts and offered a sympathetic smile. "I'm going to tell you something Aang, and I want you to listen because I'm being completely honest and truthful with you, but Katara….she needs you."

This certainly confused Aang as he, for the moment, abandoned his lamenting thoughts and fixed Sokka with a confused look, prompting the warrior to continue. "See, when our mother died, it was the worst time of our lives," the older teen said, running his hand agitatedly through his hair. "Our family was in ruins, and really, if not for Katara, I think me and my dad would have fallen apart.

"She saved us Aang, but in doing so, she gave up being a kid and grew up too fast. I miss her," Sokka said, more to himself than for the younger boy next to him. For a moment, Sokka fell silent as he was absorbed in his own thoughts, his eyes misting slightly as haunting memories played themselves across his mind. But he never allowed himself to sink too deeply into that strangling grief that always threatened to overtake him whenever he remember the darker days of his youth and rather turned his attention back to the airbender.

"She sacrificed everything for me and my father, and it wasn't fair. All I ever wanted was for her to be happy, but somewhere along the way I lost sight of that. I spent all my time training and preparing for a war with the Fire Nation, that I forgot to be a kid. And Katara spent so much time taking care of me that she forgot all that too. Some big brother I was."

"Sokka, I don't understand…" Aang began but fell silent when Sokka raised his hand, asking for him to be quiet.

"This is something I never told you Aang, but when Katara released you from the iceberg, I resented you. I was angry you were at our tribe and I wanted you gone. Not because I thought you were a threat. I may have said that, but it wasn't true. I wanted you to leave because you gave Katara something I couldn't. You made her laugh again Aang, and I was jealous that some outsider could give her something I wasn't able to. Before you arrived, I don't know, I guess it must have four…five years since I'd even seen Katara smile. Now she smiles all the time, and I resented that, but I'm also thankful because you gave me back my sister.

"After all she's done, she deserves to be happy."

"But…you said she needed me. How can I make her happy?"

Sokka offered no answer however and simply shrugged his shoulders. Whatever more he might have said on the issue would only have further confused the younger teen. He had his suspicions, had his own theories on how everything would work itself out, but this was not the time to compile an already stressful situation with more complications. Instead, he simply stood up and dusted himself off.

"Really Sokka, you uh…you're not mad about all this?"

Shrugging in response to the Avatar's question, the boomerang expert offered a wane smile in response. "I already told you Aang, all I want is for Katara to be happy. She's spent most of her life taking care of me and my father, that it's nice to see someone taking care of her, looking out for her and protecting her without smothering her. As long as you care for her as much as she deserves, that all I'd ask."

Reaching into the folds of his clothing, Sokka removed a delicately shaped flower and tossed it gently to Aang who caught it in an uncertain hand. "You seemed to think it was important, so I got one of those flowers you wanted off the rim of the volcano before they were all destroyed. You said it was special, that it signified everything you wanted in the one you wanted to be with, right?"

"The Panda Lily," Aang said, his eyes wide with reverence and disbelief as he couldn't help but smile at the gesture from his best friend. "Thank you Sokka!"

Waving him off, Sokka rolled his shoulders as he moved to walk away. "Whether you give it to her now or next year, just make sure that when you do give it to her, you mean it."

As he walked away, Sokka couldn't help but feel a little saddened. His gesture was the mature thing to do…the right thing, and yet he couldn't help but feel that his sister had grown up without him. That she no longer needed him when she had Aang to protect and care for her. Still, even if he was a little sad, he was also a little hopeful, because he knew if there was anything Katara deserved was to be happy. That's all he wanted.

End

A/N: Okay, not sure about this one. The beginning started kind of blah, but I liked the dialogue between Sokka and Aang. I always found it strange when reading fanfiction that has Sokka being a complete overprotective jerk when it comes to Aang and Katara's relationship, even though he never seemed to mind about Katara's interest in Jet until learning he was nuts. So, this was a dialogue I thought up for Sokka and Aang having that talk.

As always, reviews are appreciated, so if you were kind enough to read, I welcome your input. Thank you.


	17. Ch 17: Choose

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pillow Talk

Chapter 17: Choose

Being dismissed by the princess was nothing new to the black-haired daughter of the governor of New Ozai. Even as children, Azula always had to have her way, always had to be in charge. That didn't' mean she enjoyed or even accepted the constant dismalls of her presence, especially when she was spending some much needed time alone with her boyfriend.

Zuko had only just returned to the Fire Nation, had just gotten his honor back after three agonizingly long years and now Azula was surely complicating matters for the reinstated prince. It left a sour taste in Mai's mouth that was impossible to swallow.

And so Mai stood, rooted in place a few feet from where the princess had sent her away. And yet even here she could still feel Zuko's arms around her, feel the soft pressure of his lips against hers, lingering along the ridges of her mouth, and she missed it. She missed having him close to her, and the absence of his tender affections left an uncharacteristic chill in her being.

She wasn't certain what had bothered her most; knowing that her body ached with the absence of his nearness, or that she was even troubled by these cold, empty sensations at all.

It wasn't like her to be so completely enamored with one person. To need his touch and soft, gentle words that she found herself missing and even wanting when he wasn't there to give her that attention. She wanted it, craved it and even needed those sentiments and touches in the intimate moments of their quiet revere. And it scared her to think she had become so dependent on him. Scared her, but also emotionally filled her with a passion that she could not quite put to words. It was so much more different that who she really was, stoic and bleak. She hadn't even known when these changes began within her, and as of right now, she wasn't certain how she exactly felt about them.

As she continued her introspective self-exploration, the shuffling of footsteps drew her attention to the crimson-garbed princess who rounded the corner. "Oh Mai," Azula smirked, her voice dripping with unexpected discovery that did not reflect the piercing gaze fixed upon her. "Fancy seeing you still here."

"Yes well, it seems the tangles in Ty Lee's hair wasn't as bad as we feared," the taller woman droned as she crossed her arms. Rather than fix her friend with the usual gaze, her face was instead turned toward the direction she knew Zuko remained. For the briefest of moments, an apprehensive look crossed the knife thrower's face, betraying more than she intended to reveal to her astute friend before amending the expression with her customary, stoic features.

Catching the look with deep interest, Azula offered a knowing smile to her friend before sighing for no other purpose than to gather the other woman's attention. "If you're worried about Zuzu, don't be. You can have him back now, I'm all done."

But as she turned to leave, Mai's fingers clutched her friend's arm, halting her departure. It was a dangerous act, and Azula was not accustomed to being restrained by anyone, least of all one who served her. But for the benefit of her own interest, she let the offense go unchallenged. "Something you wish to say to me Mai?"

For a moment, just a fraction of a heartbeat really, Mai's hand slackened against her hold before reaffirming itself. She had already stepped over the line of protocol; she had nothing left to lose by surrendering to Azula's will. "I want you to leave Zuko alone, Azula."

The princess arched a dangerous eyebrow, the corner of her mouth seemingly uncertain whether to smile at the brazen demand from her friend or frown at the sheer audacity of this woman. In the end, it remained wholly unreadable and Mai was more disturbed by that reaction than any other. "Are you making demands of me Mai?"

"He's been through enough Azula," Mai remarked, and though her tone was indifferent, there remained an impatient bite of concern for the recently returned prince that the shorter young woman would not have expected from her friend. "Three years he's been gone. He's only just returned and getting his life back. I just want him to be happy."

"Zuzu…happy?" Azula barked a laugh of amusement that did not at all sound amused. "I think you have the wrong man if you're looking for his happiness. And since when did you ever care about making _anyone_ happy?"

Mai however did not respond immediately and simply removed her hand from her friend's arm, fixing her friend with a piercing gaze that revealed too much. Azula seemed both startled and amused by the emotions she saw within. "Oh Mai, you terribly naïve fool. Are you telling me that…you care for Zuzu that much? Really?"

"He's all I want Azula," Mai said in her cutting tone that was as emotive as it was concise. "If our friendship means anything to you, let me have this…please."

It was the last word that had taken Azula by surprise the most, for Mai never pleaded for anything in her life. It was also equally gratifying to realize what was being offered her. Mai had exposed herself to the shrewdly minded princess; she revealed her one weakness to her. And for Azula's opportunistic mind, she knew Mai was surrendering all her hopes to the one woman who enjoyed nothing more than crushing other's dreams. It was a foolish move, and Azula was slightly caught off guard by the implications of what she could do with that knowledge.

"It all depends on Zuko," Azula said, taking the moment to check her fingernails as though the conversation was already boring her. "If he does something stupid, then I'll have to take action. Personally I'm not holding much faith for him…he's never been graced with an abundance of intelligence…or talent, or personality for that matter."

"Right," Mai replied in her customary droll while rolling her eyes. "Well, if that's all, I'll be getting back to Zuko now."

Now it was Azula's turn to halt her friend's retreating steps as her hand gripped Mai's sleeve. "For what it's worth Mai, I hope I'm wrong. But just so you know…I don't want Zuko coming between us."

"For that, it depends on you Azula," Mai said, her back still turned on her friend. "On whether you intend to come between Zuko and me."

With those words, Mai gently pulled her arm free of Azula's grip and made to join Zuko. She had a feeling he would need her company, even if he wouldn't tell her what he and Azula talked about.

Azula however stared at the departing back of her friend, wondering how she would twist this new information to her own advantage. She could not deny that she was troubled by this new defiance Mai was showing. It did not at all suit her and Azula certainly did not like it. But she was nothing if not patient. Azula would wait and see, and Spirits help Mai if she chose Zuko over her.

-End

A/N: Well, this kind of occurred to me during that scene where Azula dismissed Mai during _The Headband_. The look Mai gave was not at all submissive. Anyway, Mai doesn't get enough love, and I thought this was a sweet little exploration on Mai's feelings for Zuko. But I'm not really sure how this one came out.

Anyway, if you liked it or didn't like it, please let me know. I may be a review whore, but only 4 more to 100.


	18. Ch 18: Fate's Puzzle

Fate's Puzzle

There were times, when the night was at its most silent, when the rest of the world was immersed in peaceful slumber, that the young waterbender found herself plagued with thoughts and memories too vivid to allow her mind find comfort in her dreams. On occasions like this, she simply chose to relive her younger days, the days spent on the back of a great flying bison, learning about the world, helping those in need, fighting a war and of course, finding herself falling in love. Some memories were certainly better than others, but given the opportunity, she would not change a single moment of her life.

Even presented with the chance to save her mother's life, she knew she would deny herself that indulgence. Had her mother not…had her mother lived, her father would not go off to war, she and Sokka would not be left to defend the Water Tribe, she would not have ventured with her brother on the raft and they would never have discovered the iceberg that had been the Avatar's cocoon.

The memory brought a slow-forming smile to her lips as she turned her face to the man who shared her bed; his head resting comfortably against her shoulder while one arm stretched protectively over her body. It had been years since they traveled together, years since they camped out in the open fields or whatever remote location would offer them sanctuary while avoiding detection or capture. And though she always found herself amazed with the boy she adored who grew to be the man that she loved, she was never so enamored with him as she was when he slept.

It seemed all the tension and strain of the world; the anticipation of others who wanted the mighty Avatar to remedy their troubles and apprehensions had melted away when Aang would sleep. And it made her heart swell to know that only she ever saw this side of him; the man who was just a man that wanted nothing more than simplicity in his life. She wondered if that wasn't why he often slept with his arm protectively over her, as though holding desperately to the one stabilizing influence in his overly chaotic life.

She smiled tenderly at the sentiment, her fingers moving to dance lightly across the curve of his jaw as his sleeping body responded to both her affection and her closeness. There was something in her mind however, that had suddenly unsettled her, a thought that plagued her as relentlessly as her own sleepless musings and left her deeply troubled by the implication. It was a vague thought really, one that would simply drift into the ether of forgotten dreams had she not concentrated so much effort to take possession of it, to hold it and examine it thoroughly, as if to understand all of it, it's allusions and the truth that was just beyond her grasp.

As cautiously as possible, she moved Aang's arm from her and eased herself out of bed. Leaving their bedchamber, she walked the length of their modest home in Ba Sing Se, finding her destination at the terrace that faced the mountains just beyond the inner wall. She walked towards the edge of the patio and rested her hands against the banister, a sigh escaping her lips as she tried and failed to calm her troubled mind.

Her eyes sought comfort, finding substance, not in the stable and unmoving mountains, but the stars that peppered the evening canvas with their seemingly whimsy playfulness. It seemed to remind her of such a simpler time, the thought that even those that looked down upon them when the sun set, still found joy in entertaining those who knew to gaze upon the nightly dance of the spirits that had passed from the world. She searched the sky briefly, wondering which star was her mother before reminding herself of her unsettling thoughts. Abandoning her short search for the maternal star, she concentrated instead on which among the countless souls that glittered tonight…were the Airbenders? And she wondered vainly, as she searched unsuccessfully for the departed culture, if they would have approved of her? As ridiculous as it seemed, she could not help but wonder if she was not somehow responsible for what had happened to them, and it was that, single question that so took possession of her mind, that prevented her from reclaiming her composure.

Sighing dejectedly as she bowed her head, her knuckles white with the pressure of gripping the banister, she looked up once more before speaking softly, "How long have you been standing there?" She did not even need to know he had followed her, she had felt his presence behind her, and it was only her preoccupied thoughts that distracted her from him.

"A few minutes after you left the bed," Aang said softly as he moved to join her, feeling that now she acknowledged his presence, he was given permission to join her.

"I'm sorry I woke you," she said equally soft. "I couldn't sleep and well…never mind. Go back to sleep, I'll join you soon."

"That's alright," Aang responded in kind, his fingers reaching out to take Katara's hand in his own, "I think I'd rather just stay out here for a little bit." Katara smiled shyly at the gesture, her heart swelling just by Aang's the mere presence. This was what she loved most about him, what she cherished above all his gifts to their relationship, his infinite patience. He would remain comfortably silent, never pressing the issue, never asking what was on her mind, but simply being near her, supportive and consoling, until she was ready to talk. That simple, beautiful trait was her reminder to never take him for granted. She could only hope she gave him as much in return.

But as she thought on their relationship and love for each other, her mind was again assaulted by the unfounded guilt that seemed to compress upon her. After several moments, she finally broke the comfortable silence. "Can I ask you something?"

Turning his head slightly to indicate he was listening, Katara continued, "Do you believe in fate?"

"I don't think I would have gotten very far without it," Aang said, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he titled his head to look more fully at Katara. "The short answer I suppose is, yes, I do believe in fate. It's kind of a prerequisite for being a monk. But I'd also like to think choice plays a part in there somewhere."

"I see," Katara responded, her mouth bending into a frown that did not at all suit her alluring features. Certainly it was not an expression Aang ever wanted to see on his lovely waterbender. Everything he did was an effort to make her life as fulfilling and joyous as possible, and to see her deeply troubled expression meant he had not done enough.

"Is that what has been bothering you? The idea that we have no control over our lives?" Aang asked, hoping to address the real concern behind her troubles.

"Not entirely. But," Katara said, pausing as she looked again at the sky and studying the stars that seemed to oddly stop twinkling, as though they too were listening to her confession. "Some things are just beyond our control to change, which means either the universe is incredibly random, or incredibly cruel."

"I don't think the universe is anything really," Aang replied, shrugging his shoulders as though the thought hadn't been thoroughly examined. "It's not random, it's not loving, it's not cruel, it just…is. Our lives are guided by fate, but written by us."

"And that's the whole problem, isn't it?" Katara said again, her frown now moving to her eyes as her brow crinkled in thought.

"Not if you don't let it be."

"No Aang, it's just not that easy," Katara sighed again as she turned her head away from the stars, but rather than face him, she turned away.

Turning his back on the world beyond their simple home so that he leaned, back against the banister, Aang took Katara by the shoulders and pulled her until she stood in front of him, his fingers cupping her chin and forcing her eyes to lock his own. No matter how long he lived, he would never get tired of being drawn into her eyes.

"Then explain it to me," Aang replied, his hand moving from her chin to her cheek and fully capturing her face in the simple action.

"You, you'll just think I'm being silly."

"Katara, there is nothing you can say to me that I will ever think you're being silly or ridiculous, and if it troubles you this much, I want to hear it. There's nothing more that I want than to make you happy. I can't…always promise to do that, but I can at least try."

"Alright, fine, but just don't laugh, okay?" She asked, and for a moment, her eyes shined in the same, hopeful innocence she possessed when she was a younger woman. "It's my fault."

Arching an eyebrow as though expecting more, Aang tilted his head to better look at Katara's downcast eyes. "That's rather ambiguous. Care to elaborate?"

"The Airbenders," Katara said quietly, closing her eyes in silent shame. "What happened to the Airbenders was my fault."

For a few moments, silence stretched between the two of them as Katara still held her eyes closed, not wanting to see the expression on Aang's face. Finally, the Avatar spoke, and it did nothing to calm the young woman's mind. "Okay, remember when I said nothing you say will make me think you're being ridiculous? I take it back."

"I'm being serious Aang," Katara replied, her eyes opening to reveal the hint of anger that was much more prevalent in her younger days.

"I know, and that makes it all the more amusing," He said, laughing slightly at the expression on her face. "I mean, all these years you've been telling me that my desertion of the temple did not lead to the Airbenders deaths, and now you tell me it's because of you. I mean, they died out…well, before Gran-Gran was even born, you can't deny the irony."

"I knew I shouldn't have said anything," Katara replied, turning to leave, but Aang's strong hands on her shoulders prevented her departure.

"No, no, don't go. Look, I'm sorry, okay. I didn't mean to make light of this it's just, well, I don't know where you got this idea. I don't see how any of it could be your fault."

At this, Katara fell silent as she bowed her head. Taking several steadying breaths, she raised her head to look at Aang once more. "Since I couldn't sleep tonight, I let my mind wander a bit on, my life I guess, and all the things that led up to us meeting mostly. I mean, as hard as it is to think about, my mother's death was almost a necessary component to us being together. Without that, my father would not have gone to war, my brother and I would not have been left to defend the tribe, and we wouldn't have gone fishing that day. I mean, what if the current took us some place else, what if it took you somewhere different than where we were. What if I decided not to go on the fishing trip or if Sokka had chosen to turn right instead of left. There were simply too many unknown variables that made it a mere coincidence."

"You're talking about fate again then, aren't you?" It wasn't a question that needed to be answered, but Katara nodded regardless.

"Yes," she stated simply, "I've been giving it a lot of thought. Everything that happened had to happen the way it did in order for us to meet. If my mother hadn't died, my father hadn't left the tribe, then he would have been the one to find the iceberg you were in, or he wouldn't have, given that I had water bended out of my frustration, which caused your ice cocoon to surface."

"I know a lot of bad things happened to you Katara," Aang said, his words careful so not to further upset her as he took her in his arms and held her against him, his lips finding comfort in her hair before loosening his hold. "I know you've suffered, and I hope that, maybe I've taken away some of your grief?"

Katara shook her head, not in denial of his comfort and fulfillment in her life, but because he had not grasped the whole picture. "You don't understand Aang," she said, her hand coming to rest against his cheek and caressing his face with as much comfort as she could give. "As I've been thinking about all of this, all the things that happened to me in order for us to meet the way we did, I realized just how many things had to happen to you for the same circumstance to be occur."

Thinking quietly as Aang recalled his life before his reawakening; he shook his head and smiled, "That had nothing to do with you, or with me. I learned I was the Avatar, and I left, not because of what I was forced to do or what I was forced to become, but because the monks would have taken me away from Gyatso. The Fire Nation attacked after I was frozen. It was no one's fault that it happened."

"But Aang," Katara said quietly as she pulled back to look him in the eye, her arms still draped over his shoulders, his arms around her waist, "What if we had returned to the Southern Air Temple, and you found it flourishing with Airbenders, Air Bison, Lemur, would have still traveled with Sokka and me? Or would you have remained with your own people?"

"I'd travel with you and Sokka, just the way it was meant to be."

"You say that now," Katara answered, pulling him close so that she could share her intimacy with him and her fear of what could have been had life been different. "You say that after our travels are long since over, but can you be so certain that you wouldn't have abandoned us, two virtual strangers you'd only just met, so you could remain with your own people?"

"Honestly, I'd like to think so…but I get what you're saying," Aang responded, knowing how twisted the entire concept was, only to realize Katara was right. Everything in life, the good and the bad that happened to them had brought them to this moment, just as this moment would bring them to the next. But there was something Katara was missing, something vital that Aang himself, had not quite figured out yet.

"The only way to guarantee our lives would have worked out the way they did was, well…"

"For the Airbenders to have died," Aang finished, nodding his head in understanding as he held Katara tightly, bringing her close to his own body. As he closed his eyes in silent thought, it finally came to him, the final piece of the mystery he had considered but wasn't quite able to understand. It was that single piece that would not only ease Katara's mind, but answer her questions about fate and their place in it as well.

"So, if I'm understanding you right," Aang began, pulling away again to gaze into Katara's eyes. "Then your saying for us to be together, to like we are right now, I would have had to have been told I was the Avatar earlier than intended, learn the monks wished to separate me from Gyatso, frozen myself in a big ball of ice, and for the Airbenders to have all died off. And for some reason, you feel that our life together, our love we have is to blame?"

Turning her eyes downcast so to avoid the guilt she felt from even suggesting such a thing, Katara meekly nodded her head. "When you say it out loud, it does sound kind of stupid, but yeah…I can't help it. If things in this world happen for a reason, because of fate, then every bad thing that's happened to us, the Airbenders, my mother, everything we've endured, it happened to ensure we'd be together."

"Honestly, I'm kind of flattered to think some higher being thought our love was so monumental that it took this much planning and foresight."

"This isn't something to laugh about Aang, this is serious…" Katara's words were cut off however as the Avatar's lips crashed against hers, silencing all protests, concerns and apprehensions. She was lost, absolutely absorbed into the sensation of his lips against hers, his hands pressing against the small of her back, pulling her closer to him, and she responded in kind. When he at last pulled away from her, she felt pleasantly overcome with the emotional expression pouring from the man in her arms, his love, his concern and his desire for her, and she was intoxicated by that need.

"Let me ask you something Katara, all joking aside. I'm being as serious as you want me to be about this," Aang said, his eyes fixing themselves on the woman he held. "You said that for our love to come to be, all these bad things had to happen to make sure we not only met, but that we would fall in love. So, if that's true, then you're mother's death…does that make it my fault?"

Katara's eyes opened wide in surprise at the unintentional accusation her own misguided guilt had placed on his shoulders. For a moment, it gave a new perspective to her concerns, and a realization as to how unfounded her distress was. In a way, it was even unnecessary.

"A-Alright, you've made your point oh wise and powerful Avatar," Katara said, a slight, self-conscious smile toying at her lips, "no more worrying about what was, what could have been or what might have happened. Things are as they are, and I guess I just needed the right perspective to realize that." She said, wrapping her arms around him and returning his earlier kiss, feeling him relax into the contact as readily as she had done.

"Well, I don't think you were totally wrong about that though Katara."

"What do you mean," the Waterbender asked, her eyes narrowing as she studied him carefully.

"Well, given what happened to the Airbenders, your mother, the war we fought, the fear we felt when things got difficult, I think you and me finding each other was a way for the universe to reward us for enduring so much," Aang said as he pulled Katara close to him once more, his crooked, playful smile painting his face. "Besides my dear, dear Katara. If you really think about, you and I are going to be mother and father to an entire nation." At the sound of her laughter, he tightened his embrace, relaxing as he felt her respond similarly. "What more could we ask for?"

"Just one thing," Katara said, pulling slightly away so she could look fully at Aang and his lopsided grin. Her eyes narrowed suggestively as she leaned closer to the monk, her lips grazing his as she spoke. "And we've already been given that."

A/N: Thank you to everyone who have contributed to my 100 reviews. It really does motivate a writer to continue when they know their work is appreciated.

As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review.


	19. Ch 19: The Kiss

Avatar the Last Airbender

Pillow Talk

Chapter 19: The Kiss

It was a terrifying experience to know the relationship with your best friend had suddenly changed to become so much more than you ever dared to hope. For Aang and Katara, that change was a slow, gradual evolution from strangers to acquaintances, from friends to lovers. But it was more than that. To simply say they were in love was a disservice to the dynamics of their relationship. Love was merely an extension; because Aang and Katara were not so much in love, but rather had become the very force of that love itself. Their hearts, minds, bodies and souls had become interchangeable with one another, because in the years since the end of the war, they had become one life shared simply within two bodies.

Of course, they had their troubles, especially in the early stages of their newfound romance. After their kiss on the balcony, everything had changed between them, and neither had been prepared for that eventuality.

The early stages in particular had become more complicated than what should have been, made more so by the shy approach taken by the enamored pair of benders. It seemed each had taken a very cautious approach in regards to their quickly changing relationship. It had become clear that, after that kiss, their first true kiss, that there was no turning back, and they were perfectly pleased with that.

However, they were both so very unfamiliar with first love, that neither wanted to take the take the initiative and risk scaring their partner into retreating from what was destined to be a beautiful thing. It had taken three days since exploring their mutual attraction for Aang to work the nerve up to hold Katara's hand as they walked through the marketplace.

Even that simple gesture of comfort had been hesitant. Katara had been hurt before, many times in fact, and it had taken so long for her to come to terms with her own feelings that Aang was annoyingly too conservative in handling this new intimacy. For Aang, he knew he loved Katara the moment he opened his eyes and found himself drowning in those radiant, sapphire pools of liquid ice. But it had taken nearly a year for her to sort out her feelings, and when he tried to push the issue, she balked and fled. He did not want to make that mistake again, and so handled everything regarding Katara as though it was all made of glass and could shatter at the slightest mistake.

For her own part, Katara merely chalked it up to Aang's shy demeanor. At least in the early stages. But when their two month anniversary had found them and Aang was still uncomfortable with public displays of affection, Katara found that had begun second guessing herself, as if the problem was not with Aang but with her.

Certainly she never wanted a relationship like Sokka and Suki's, where the pair was found groping each other at every turn and kissing so fervently it could easily be mistaken that their intention was to eat each other's faces. That's not what she wanted, but she had hoped for a little more affection from her boyfriend. So, much like their training exercises, she took the initiative.

The opportunity had actually presented itself only a few days after her decision to elicit more enthusiasm from her darling young Avatar. Throwing herself at him was certainly not her style, it was just not her; but she shrugged the rash decision off as desperate times and hormonal need. So when the pair had casually separated themselves from the rest of their friends while in Ba Sing Se, Katara quickly latched her fingers around Aang's wrist and pulled him down the nearest alley.

He only had the briefest of moments to ask what she was doing before he found his back forcefully colliding with a wall and her lips crashing against his in a fit of unrelenting need. His response was immediate, and though his body instinctively stiffened in shock, he quickly relaxed into the ministrations of Katara's tender mouth, finding his own rhythm and moving his lips in synch with hers. It was so unlike their first true kiss on the balcony outside Iroh's teashop. That kiss was sweet, delivered in softly defined tenderness. It was both a kiss of relief and release of all those fears and anxieties that kept them apart.

But this was different. It was wild and hungry, unleashed by the boundless need to express that their relationship was one worth believing in. Through that kiss, Aang felt all the unasked questions of his dedication to her, the confusion and anxiety over why he was being so cautious. Likewise, Katara understand all the fears and uncertainties pouring from the teen she held in her arms. He was scared of pushing into this relationship too quickly, afraid she'd run from him again.

Had they stopped to understand the significance of their discovery, they would have realized their hearts had united in that moment.

But they were too fixated on the sensation of absolving one another of their own doubts and fears to give any notice to this discovery. Aang poured his whole being into that kiss, his lips moving deftly along the ridges of her mouth, proclaiming in his silent promise that he would not shy away from her again. Katara, likewise, reaffirmed that she would never again run from him, because this was where she belonged.

There were many kisses that followed, a lifetime of love and passion, of trials and tribulations and struggles and triumphs that made every moment of their lives together all the more epic. But it was unspoken between them that no matter how many kisses had followed, that was their most special one. It was a kiss, born out of raw desperation and perhaps a touch of fear. It was wild and passionate and even terrifying, because they came to understand how their lives had changed, how they were so much better than they ever thought possible, simply because they had each other.

There was no haven in heaven or earth, in the Spirit Realm or any world hereafter that could shelter and protect, comfort and strengthen Aang and Katara any more than to be in each other's arms. For this was their home. Here, they belonged.

-End

A/N: Okay, this went way off-kilter. I intended to write a story about the first time Katara and Aang sleep together, i.e. share a sleeping bag (completely innocent perverts :-p) but then this thing happened. No idea how it came about as it was definitely not what I was intending. But anyway, seemed kind of nice and fluffy, so here you go.

Let me know what you think, reviews are how we writers get better after all. Danke


	20. Ch 20: The First Time

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pillow Talk

Chapter 20: First Time

This had not been the way Katara wished to bring up her little suggestion. She had planned to ease into it slowly, because really, Aang was a bit overly sensitive about such things. So when she simply blurted the proposal they should share a sleeping bag, she was certain her darling, young Avatar was going to burst into flames if the telling blush that stained every available parcel of exposed skin was any indication.

And thus the pair of young lovers was left with only the uncomfortably awkward silence hanging between them, Katara wishing she could rephrase her ill-worded offering and Aang desperate to find his ability to speak. When he at last managed to swallow the large piece of his stomach that had somehow crawled into his throat, he graced his beautiful sifu with a disbelieving, wide-eyed stare and uttered the only thought that came to his mind. "WHAT?"

Katara arched an eyebrow, knowing all too well that Aang's harsh chorus was not meant to be rude or hurtful and rather was taken by surprise by the unexpected suggestion. Yet even though she had rehearsed her explanation repeatedly in her mind until she was certain she could recite it backwards, she still found herself stumbling over her words.

It was her understanding that most boys Aang's age would jump at the opportunity to share a sleeping bag with their girlfriend. But Aang was not like most boys. In fact, she could honestly say there was no one on the planet as remarkable as he was, which led her to her daring proposal. She felt safe with Aang; safe and loved and accepted, and she had hoped this change in their relationship would show him how much she appreciated that trust between them. These were all things she had intended to say. However faced with his startled eyes and rigid posture, the only words that tumbled from her lips were, "Uh, I think Momo's calling me."

Before she could turn and flee however, Aang grasped her wrist to dissuade her pending retreat. "Katara please, don't walk away from this," Aang begged, his words choking on the uncertainty of what he was planning to say. He had no way of knowing the words that would come to him, only that he needed to say something.

It was entirely unfair that after almost three years of dating, they were still so new at this relationship thing. When the war ended, their little group had gone their separate way. Zuko was of course the first to leave, he had a country to run after all. Shortly thereafter, Sokka returned to help rebuild the Southern Water Tribe and Suki went with him. Toph was the last to leave, and it was only the insistence of her parents that did so, considering the number of earthbenders clamoring to be taught by the legendary Blind Bandit. But Katara…Katara would not leave Aang, and after a while, they decided to set up a single tent at night, mostly to save time, but also so they could be continually close to one another. It seemed…right.

"I'm sorry," Katara's voice, though soft and uncertain, echoed loudly in the silence of the campsite. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's not that Katara I'm just a little…surprised."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed."

"So, uh, what brought this on?" Aang asked, scratching the back of his head as he turned his eyes at the single bed roll that seemed to be beckoning the pair to lie down and rest.

"Well, I've been thinking about it for a while now," the young waterbender confessed, becoming increasingly interested in the hem of her blouse. "I mean, we share a tent, and we basically wake up snuggled up with one another. So why not make it easier for us and just share one sleeping bag."

The pregnant pause that followed allowed Aang to consider the suggestion as he chewed his lower lip nervously, his eyes again drifting to the single bedroll. "Don't you think we've grown a bit too much to share one sleeping bag?"

Shrugging as the blush stained her cheeks, she offered in quiet explanation, "It'll be cozy."

"Yeah," Aang's voice came out wistfully as he studied the confined bedding. A thousand thoughts jumbled about his mind, each vying for his complete attention before another twenty overwhelmed his brain, all the while being painfully aware that Katara was patiently waiting for his response. But that was his undoing, for the moment his eyes found hers, the world dissolved into obscurity. Given all his knowledge and experience, he knew this one simple truth as surely as he knew his own heart; that he could deny her nothing. "Yeah Katara, I think it's a good idea."

"A-are you sure?" the uncharacteristically nervous waterbender asked as she fixed her eyes to the stormy gray orbs of her beloved Avatar. "I mean, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything…" but the crashing of his lips against hers silenced any further protest as she instinctively startled under the unexpected assault before relaxing into the familiar sensation of his mouth against hers.

The kiss lasted until they were both starved for oxygen, and even beyond that. Separating with regretful need for breath, the two stared forlornly into each others eyes before a soft, slow-forming smile parted Aang's lips. "I'm most _definitely_ sure Katara."

Smiling at his playful double meaning and enjoying the nipping kisses that he offered as further incentive of his determination, Katara pulled from the arms of her lover, leaving both starved for each other's embrace. "Then we should get ready for bed." She said in response, moving to gather her belongings and making her way to the privacy of the woods while Aang, likewise, moved behind Appa's large, furry flank and dressed in his sleeping robe.

When they had properly completed their preparations, Katara and Aang snuggled into the tightly confined sleeping bag, Aang's head resting on Katara's shoulder as she reached her free arm protectively over the young man's frame. Neither seemed to notice or mind when their legs intertwined, neither cared that their mingled breath raised the temperature of the immediate area. All that mattered was the comfort they felt in each other's arms, the lingering touches that tickled across exposed and covered skin and the all-consuming love that encompassed them in this moment of blissful perfection.

Sighing with resignation, Aang nuzzled his head further against Katara's shoulder before lamenting, "I knew this was going to happen."

Suppressing a smile over his overdramatic antics, Katara turned her head only slightly as she arched an accusing eyebrow. "What are you implying airbender? I don't make a comfortable enough pillow for you?"

In response, Aang tightened his embrace, bringing Katara closer to him as he snuggled deeper into her embrace. "No, it's not that. It's just…I'm never going to be able to leave. I'm going to have to remain here forever, just like this."

"Mmm," was Katara's simple response as she leaned her head against his, her eyes closing in coming sleep. She didn't need Aang to elaborate because she knew exactly how he felt. If she could live her life any way she wanted, it would be just as she was now, nestled in the arms of the young man who had come to encompass the whole of the world to her, protected and protecting at the same time. For this was peace. This was happiness.

This was love.

-End

A/N: Not sure about the ending, I wanted to make a sickeningly sweet Kataang story and worked on the original concept of what chapter 19 was meant to be. In other news, I've finally gotten admitted into my master's program, so sadly, I'm going to be devoting more time to my studies and less on writing (for the time being) and as such, you may not seem me around much any more. I'll still be here, and I'll post more when I get the chance, but it won't be for a while so hopefully this will hold you over.

As always, reviews are appreciated and I really want to thank all the wonderful readers who've read and reviewed this one-shot series so far. You've really motivated me to continue and I treasure every comment and review you offer, so thank you so very much.


	21. Ch 21: A Breaking of the Minds

A/N: Story takes place after the series finale.

Pillow Talk

Chapter 21: A Breaking of the Minds

She hated it here. This cold, sterile, isolated room that had become her prison. She, the once proud and powerful; mighty and beautiful princess of the Fire Nation, reduced to this hollowed shell of her once great self.

It was never easy. In the earliest days of her incarceration, she would thrash wildly about, clawing at her unblemished flesh until she would tear away pieces of herself, as though desperate to get to the core of her instability. Her freedom had been stripped from her and she was left as naked and exposed as if her captors had torn every garment from her body and left her unburdened by the dignity of basic human decency. Against her will, she was left alone in this room while attendants and doctors would come and gawk, proclaiming how tragic the life of their once wondrous princess had become. In those early days, much of what was expected of her was against her will or desires, and her own powerlessness only deepened her fragilely teetering stability.

When it had become too much, when they feared she would inflict permanent scars upon her beautiful body, they bound her hands and feet, only further proving how little control she had in her own life. She was once the almighty princess Azula, second only to her father in power and fear; she commanded whole armies in fact, and yet here she lay strapped and confined to her own bed while her caregivers looked upon her with something many would classify as _pity_.

Bastards!

Who were they to pity her, to look upon her with remorse and compassion? They should fear her, gaze upon her with awe and trepidation and serve her every whim. Release her from this unsanctioned prison. Let the shackles fall from her wrists and ankles, grovel and beg for her forgiveness and prostrate themselves at her feet.

"How dare you?" the words came out as little more than a mumbled whimper. She hated how truly helpless she sounded. "Release me now you worthless peasants and perhaps I'll make your deaths quick! If not then I will line all your heads up on a pike and leave your rotting carcasses for the flies! Do you hear me? Let me go NOW!"

In the days prior, she had exhausted herself, thrashing against her bindings until her muscles tore and screaming until her voice burned raw and no longer worked. Now, in her weakened, miserable state, there was nothing for her attendants to do but laugh at her misery. Even now she heard their mockery echoing in her ears, taunting her as she lay in her own sweat, spent and exhausted from her feeble attempts at liberation.

"_My how the mighty have fallen_," a voice, so very familiar, spoke in echoing tones that sent a shiver of discontent down the spine of the fallen princess.

"Wh-who's there?" Azula asked, straining her head against her limited range of motion and protesting body as she glared about the large, empty room in an effort to see who it was now who taunted her. "Show yourself…I demand you show yourself!"

"_You're in no position to demand anything_," the voice proclaimed as the taunting young woman seemingly melted from the shadows of the far corner, standing in all her glory before the restrained princess. Her garments were those of the Fire Nation military and her raven-black hair pulled back in a beautiful yet serviceable style only added to her mystique. As she approached the bound princess, her black, piercing eyes bore into her as if reading her soul, and the partial smirk that tugged at the corner of her lips gave the incapacitated young woman the impression that her unwelcomed intruder was sizing up a potential victim. "_Spirits you look a wreck_."

"N-no…it can't be…"

"_What's the matter Azula_," the intruding apparition stated as she smiled triumphantly over the terrified form of the young woman, "_Don't you recognize the better, stronger you_?"

"Y-you're not real…you can't be real!"

"_Of course I'm real dumb, dumb; because somewhere inside that brilliantly twisted mind of yours, I still exist. The Azula you've forgotten_."

"No. You don't exist, you can't…" the restrained princess pleaded, her eyes wide with fear and trepidation in the presence of this hallucination. "My mind is just playing tricks on me, that's all…"

"_Perhaps_," the echoing shade commented as she moved to the bedside, running one long finger along the curve of Azula's arm. "_But you well know I'm you're only chance of getting out of here._"

"This isn't happening…"

"_Oh please, just look at yourself_," the specter recanted, stepping one foot in front of the other as she gracefully made her way to Azula. "_You don't even know what's real and what isn't. For all you know, I could be the real Azula and you're just that annoying little voice of doubt in my head that I'm here to silence_…"

Strapped in her bed, eyes wide with terror and fear, Azula tried desperately to scoot away from the apparition that seemed to smile tauntingly at her. "Nurse…doctor…someone please…help me…"

"_Nurse…doctor, lord you sound pathetic_," the shade replied in mockery as she folded her hands in front of her face as if pleading for assistance. "_When has the great Princess Azula ever begged for anything? If you want something, take it! We never asked for anything before, we just took whatever we needed, whatever we wanted! People were obligated to surrender it to us. And now look at you, strapped to a bed by people who should serve you whatever we wanted. But here you are, strapped in a bed and locked in a little room, forgotten and unwanted, abandoned and unloved_…"

"That's not true!" Azula cried, the tears welling in her eyes, causing her beautiful golden orbs to glisten all the more gracefully, and yet never had her eyes shimmered with such pain and uncertainty.

"_You can't even say that with impunity can you_?" Again the mocking smile crossed the near-perfect features of the psychosis elicited illusion. "_Face it Azula, they've taken everything from us; Mai, Ty Lee, mother…even your bending no longer serves you since you're in this state. And you know whose fault it is don't you? Darling, precious Zuzu. Everyone has abandoned you because of him_…"

"No," she said, and though the denial was spoken aloud, the conviction of her hopes reached neither her eyes nor her lips. "Y-you're lying. Azula always lies…"

"_You really cannot be such a simple creature. If they loved you, if any of them cared for you, why haven't any of them come to visit you_?" A moment's pause earned a smile of triumph from the taunting form of Azula as she fixed her eyes pointedly at the quivering orbs of the imprisoned princess. "_You can't even answer that can you? Face it Azula, you're alone here…all alone_."

"No."

"_No one is coming to care for you; no one is coming to ease your pains and suffering because they're all happier without you_."

"Stop saying this…"

"_Why should I? You know its true Azula. I'm all you have left; that last semblance of who you used to be, and without me, you'd be left the wretched, babbling, broken excuse of a human being you are now; unloved, unwanted, just discarded like the refuse of life you are_…"

"Shut up!" Azula screamed as loudly as her tattered voice would endure, tears pouring freely from her eyes as she tossed her head from side to side as if denying the words her other self offered while attempting to drive the self-depreciating words from her mind. "You're just trying to confuse me!"

"You don't need me for that," the mocking princess sneered as she leaned against the far wall and crossed her arms over her chest. "Remember what mother said, before you faced Zuzu?"

"She said…she said she loved me," Azula replied, clinging to the memory as though it was all that would keep her from drowning in the sea of her own lost mind.

"_Not that idiot. She said you were confused. All your life you've used fear to control people, like Mai and Ty Lee? Now look who's afraid_?" For but a moment, the other Azula toyed with her fingernails as if bored with the conversation before continuing. "_You, the once proud princess of the Fire Nation, strapped to a bed and held against your will while those who should be flocking to your aid have abandoned you to rot in this room. You're terrified aren't you? That maybe all those people who've ever said all those horrible things about you are right? That at the end of it all you'll end up alone and isolated…and here you are._"

"I don't care, I just don't care anymore."

"_Of course you do, why else would I be here_?"

"To torment me," Azula sobbed, her face slick with tears as she thrashed once again against the bindings holding her against the bed and ignoring the thin trail of blood that dripped from beneath the straps where her skin had split open from the effort. "Just like everyone, you just want to laugh and make me feel the victim, tell me how worthless and meaningless I am.

"I HATE YOU!"

"_You realize you're just condemning yourself_."

"Shut up…just leave me alone!"

For the first time during their communication, the spectral Azula seemed genuinely pained. "_Don't do that Azula…don't send me away. I'm the only semblance of sanity you have left; don't cast us to the darkness…please_."

The word seemed to bring a lucid joy to the mentally disturbed young woman as she sneered in delight at the shaken apparition. "Now who's pleading you wretched, unwanted thing…I want nothing from you!"

"_Azula, don't_…"

"GO AWAY! I want you to leave, just leave me alone. Leave me alone…leave me alone…" Azula flopped back onto the mattress, her body spent and exhausted as tears continued to pour freely from her stinging eyes. The words continued to escape her lips long after her voice failed her.

Whether by design, desire, or madness, Azula was left alone, with only the taunting voices of her own failure and shortcomings echoing within her mind, for that last semblance of sanity had at last fallen silent.

-End

A/N: I'm not sure, this was an idea I had, but I wanted it to be darker than I wrote it. Hope this works. Anyway, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


End file.
